The acquisition and preparation for use of Boxer infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) will cost Lithuania a total of 670 million euros, Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas has said.
“We have created the Boxer capability, that is, IFVs armed with Spike missiles and a 30mm automatic cannon,” Anusauskas told a TV3 program on Monday.
“But we have created the capability. All this is going to cost us half a billion (euros), because the money has not been paid in full (as) we are waiting for the final contract implementation,” the minister said.
“But the ammunition and everything else had to be acquired and the amount is already 670 million (euros),” he added.
The Boxer-platform IFVs, named Vilkas, or Wolf, are manufactured for Lithuania by the German consortium ARTEC.
Signed in August 2016, the contract on the acquisition of 88 Boxers from Germany was valued at 386 million euros, making it Lithuania’s largest-ever military acquisition at that time.
The last consignment of the IFVs was scheduled to be delivered this past summer.
The IFVs, built to the requirements of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, are equipped with Israeli-made gun turrets, US-made MK-44S 30 mm cannons and Israeli-made Spike LR anti-tank missiles. Other specialized equipment and electronic systems are also integrated into the vehicles.
It has been announced earlier that Lithuania is planning to buy more than 120 additional Boxer IFVs for its armed forces.
Source: BNS.
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