In a report on the proposed arms deal which was leaked to Der Spiegel magazine, it was said that the request was discussed last week at a secret session of Germany's federal security council which had previously given the go ahead for the controversial supply of anti-tank rocket launchers to Israel.

The magazine said the Saudi government had requested the Boxer vehicles for the Saudi Royal Guard – a unit whose role is confined mainly to protecting the Saudi royal family. "The Boxer is roadworthy and suitable for combating uprisings," it noted.

The Boxer is currently used by German forces in Afghanistan as an armoured troop transporter and patrol vehicle. It can also be used as a mini field hospital. The Saudi demand for the vehicles comes on top of a request for the supply of 270 German-built Leopard 2 tanks, which rate as the most sophisticated of their kind in the world.

Krauss-Mafffei is reported to have sent a Leopard 2 "A7" to Saudi Arabia for test purposes in July this year. A German army tank specialist was also sent along to monitor firing tests. However, Ms Merkel's government is reported to have postponed any decision about the Saudi request for both the Leopard 2 tanks and Boxer armoured vehicles until next year.

The supply of German Leopard 2 tanks to Saudi Arabia was dismissed as "morally indefensible" by German opposition parties when news of the request emerged last year. Critics pointed out that the Saudi government had helped to crush a popular uprising in Bahrain in 2011. Volker Rühe, a former conservative defence minister, protested that Saudi Arabia needed "far-reaching reforms not weapons".