The Swiss company Huber+Suhner has been awarded a subcontract worth several million euros by the joint venture company Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) for the supply of high- and low-frequency cable harnesses for the Boxer MIV program of the British Army program.
Huber+Suhner plans to carry out the order at its plants in Oxfordshire and Staffordshire and is recruiting additional staff in the engineering and operations departments. The first batch, consisting of a range of common electrical parts and special cables, is scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of this year.
Reto Bolt, Operations Manager for the industrial segment at Huber+Suhner, said: “We are very proud to be able to play an important role in this project. Our development and manufacturing capabilities in the field of cable connection technology have been at the heart of our success over the past 50 years.” Bolt continued: “The Boxer contract with the UK will help us to build capacity and resources in our UK factories over the next eight years to support this project, creating both highly skilled staff and additional jobs in UK manufacturing.”
Colin McClean, Managing Director of RBSL, continued: “This contract is the latest in a series of UK supplier contracts that RBSL has awarded to Boxer to ensure that the program benefits from the best UK engineers and manufacturing companies while retaining valuable skills in the country. We are delighted to welcome Huber+SUHNER to our team. We look forward to working with them as the program progresses.”
Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL)
RBSL is a UK-based joint venture company of Rheinmetall and BAE Systems. In addition to its involvement in the Challenger 3 program, RBSL is also one of the main manufacturers of the Boxer armoured fighting vehicle under the UK Ministry of Defence’s Mechanized Infantry Vehicle (MIV) program.
The corresponding total order, worth around €2.6 billion, was awarded in November 2019 by the British Ministry of Defense to ARTEC, a joint venture between Rheinmetall Landsysteme, Rheinmetall Defence Nederland B.V. and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. The contract provides for the delivery of more than 600 Boxer vehicles to the British Army.
Vehicle production will be shared equally between RBSL and KNDS. The companies will manufacture the armored vehicle structures and assemble, integrate and test the complete vehicles at their respective plants in Telford and Stockport, supported by the UK supply chain.
