Germany and Netherlands order 222 Boxer RCT 30 infantry fighting vehicles.

Germany and the Netherlands have signed a roughly 4.5 billion euro agreement for 222 Boxer RCT 30-wheeled infantry fighting vehicles, including 150 Schakal variants for the Bundeswehr and 72 for the Dutch Army, with deliveries from late 2027. The vehicles will anchor new binational medium brigades that sit between heavy Leopard 2 units and lighter wheeled forces and bring IFV-level firepower, counter-drone capability, and high operational mobility to NATO’s land posture.

Munich-based KNDS Deutschland has confirmed that Germany and the Netherlands have placed a joint order for 222 Boxer RCT 30-wheeled infantry fighting vehicles, signed through OCCAR after national preparation by Germany’s BAAINBw. Under current plans, the Bundeswehr will field 150 vehicles as Schakal in its new Medium Forces, while the Dutch Army receives 72 for its 13th Light Brigade, with first deliveries expected toward the end of 2027. Built on the widely used 8x8 Boxer chassis and armed with the Puma-derived RCT 30 remote turret and MELLS anti-tank missiles, the new configuration is intended to become the main maneuver platform of German-Dutch medium brigades and a reference design for NATO allies exploring similar formations.
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The Bundeswehr will field 150 vehicles as Schakal in its new Medium Forces, while the Dutch Army receives 72 for its 13th Light Brigade, with first deliveries expected toward the end of 2027 (Picture source: KNDS)

For Berlin, the Schakal order turns the Medium Forces concept into deployable combat power and creates an intermediate tier in the land forces between Leopard 2 main battle tanks and lighter wheeled formations. The Boxer chassis is already in service in several European and non-European armies and is assessed to provide a protected platform with a level of availability that limits industrial and operational risk for Germany and the Netherlands and reduces training time for crews. The Remote Controlled Turret (RCT 30), derived from the Puma infantry fighting vehicle and developed by KNDS and Rheinmetall, retains the 30 mm MK30-2/ABM automatic cannon with a dual-feed system that allows a rapid switch between armour-piercing and programmable airburst ammunition. In German service, Schakal is planned for the grenadier companies attached to heavy and light brigades, where it provides protected mobility and direct fire support in situations where tracked systems are too heavy, too prominent or not available.

The Boxer RCT 30 is largely defined by its turret and weapons. The unmanned RCT 30 offers a stabilised 360-degree firing arc with day and night optronics and a digital fire-control system that enables accurate fire on the move at ranges of up to roughly 3,000 metres. The MK30-2/ABM has a rate of fire of about 200 rounds per minute and employs programmable airburst ammunition to generate a fragment cloud against infantry in cover or small uncrewed aerial systems, while armour-piercing rounds are reserved for armoured vehicles. Fitted on the same turret, the Mehrrollenfähiges Leichtes Lenkflugkörpersystem (MELLS), a light multi-role guided missile system (MELLS), adds a guided anti-tank capability with an effective range of around 4 kilometres, extended to almost 5.5 kilometres with the Spike LR2 missile. This allows Schakal crews to engage modern main battle tanks, hardened positions, and drone launch sites beyond the engagement envelope of the 30 mm cannon. The Boxer mission module carries a crew of three and six dismounted infantry soldiers in the rear compartment, maintaining a full infantry section while concentrating a high level of firepower on a single 8x8 vehicle.

At the tactical level, Schakal is designed as the primary combat vehicle for grenadier units assigned to medium formations in both armies. These units are expected to operate with protection against artillery fragments, improvised explosive devices, and top-attack drones, while still being able to move quickly over long distances to reinforce threatened sectors, escort high-value assets, or secure approaches to urban areas. The combination of wheeled mobility and infantry fighting vehicle-level lethality gives platoon and company commanders more options when they support artillery, ground-based air defence, or medium altitude long endurance (MALE) drones from dispersed positions, with the RCT 30 turret contributing both anti-tank effects and short-range counter-uncrewed aircraft system defence. With command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I) systems, Emission Control (EMCON) procedures, and secure data links, the Boxer RCT 30 feeds real-time tracks into the recognised land and joint common operational picture (RMP/COP) and helps shorten the kill chain against time-sensitive targets while allowing units to remain more dispersed and harder to detect.

At the European industrial level, the order from Germany and the Netherlands supports a shared 8x8 combat platform within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and deepens industrial interdependence around KNDS, Rheinmetall, and their subcontractors as part of the wider industrial and technological defence base (BITD). The choice of a multinational contracting authority and a single German programme office reflects a trend towards shared programme architectures intended to manage risk, contain costs, and support timely deliveries in a less stable strategic environment.

Shared Boxer RCT 30 fleets simplify logistics, training, and interoperability during joint deployments on NATO’s eastern flank, while the presence of MELLS and a modern 30 mm gun with programmable ammunition indicates to potential competitors that European medium units are equipped for high-intensity combat. As other allies examine medium brigades to complement heavy armoured formations and lighter rapid-reaction forces, the Schakal configuration becomes one of the reference options that shape the future of NATO land forces and the way Europeans invest in protected mobility and layered ground-based air defence.