WFEL is showcasing its military bridging systems at DSEI London 14-17 September and a new collaboration between WFEL and its parent company KMW - the Boxer Bridge-layer - will be on display, the first time it is being shown at a Defence Exhibition.

As seen in Disaster Relief operations following recent severe flooding in Europe in July, WFEL's rapidly deployable military bridging systems are increasingly called upon for deployment to provide emergency temporary infrastructure during natural disasters.

The new Boxer bridge module can deploy two types of bridge: a heavy variant which spans 14 metres and can carry 80 tons and a longer version of 22 metres, certified for 50 tons.

WFEL will be discussing its range of rapidly deployable bridging systems on booth H6-410 alongside KMW. WFEL's DSB Dry Support Bridge and the MGB Medium Girder Bridge are already held in inventory by many militaries worldwide.

At 120 Military Load Classification (MLC), the DSB can get traffic and supplies moving over a 46-metre gap in less than 90 minutes using just eight soldiers and a single launch vehicle: crucial in rapidly escalating combat, homeland defence or disaster relief scenarios - when every second counts.

Appointments to visit the WFEL team and discuss potential requirements for military bridging can be made here: https://www.wfel.com/contact or by contacting: info@wfel.com

For those military personnel unable to visit the show in person due to COVID travel restrictions, WFEL can also be contacted via the DSEI Connect service.

WFEL has delivered - several months earlier than scheduled - the first of several new MGB Medium Girder Bridge systems to the British Army's Royal Engineers, under the contract awarded in October 2020.

The new MGB bridging sets can be configured in several different ways to provide flexibility to the Commander on the ground and this first bridge configuration will allow the Royal Engineers to build a 31 metre Double Storey and a five-bay Single Storey Medium Girder Bridge, to be used to cross both wet and dry gaps in a variety of operational and emergency disaster relief scenarios.

This is the first of the 17 sets of Medium Girder Bridges to be supplied by WFEL, following a review of the UK MoD’s modular gap crossing capabilities (MGCC), to draw together existing in-service capabilities into a single coherent capability.

Mike Batty, Team Leader for the Operational Infrastructure Team for Defence, Equipment and Support, the procurement arm of the MoD, said: “The MGCC bridges provide a bedrock of essential support to troops on both Military and Disaster Relief operations. Receiving them ahead of schedule gives us confidence that our delivery partners understand how vital this equipment is to our Armed Forces.”

The British Army has been a user of Medium Girder Bridges since the early 1980s and the new bridging systems to be supplied by WFEL will provide new, lightweight, medium gap-crossing capability to Very High Readiness forces and form a significant element of the manoeuvre support capability for the British Army's STRIKE Brigade.

The MGB bridging systems were chosen by the Royal Engineers for their versatility and deployability to meet the challenges of the future integrated operating concept. UK Minister for Defence Procurement, Jeremy Quin MP, said: “These bridges provide our Armed Forces with vital capabilities in both Military and Disaster Relief operations.”

The complete MGB contract will be fulfilled by Dec 2025.

With over 500 systems already supplied to militaries around the world, the MGB is a modular military bridging system, providing interoperability with any other MGB of any age and is already adopted by many NATO members. MGBs were deployed jointly by U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy Seabees in Norway during Exercise Trident Juncture 2018, in one of the largest NATO exercises of recent times.

In another historic event for the UK Defence industry, WFEL has commenced production of Boxer Mechanised Infantry Vehicles for the British Army at its new manufacturing plant in the North West of England. It is a number of years since any new armoured vehicles have been manufactured in the UK.

The fabrication of vehicle sub-assemblies has been taking place over the last few weeks at WFEL’s new production facility at Stockport. As part of the extensive Technology Transfer Programme between KMW and WFEL, UK welding personnel have undertaken secondments of up to a year at parent company KMW's Boxer manufacturing site in Hamburg, Germany. Here, staff worked on the production of Boxer vehicles for KMW’s existing customers and are now fully qualified to undertake the complex work required to produce fabricated Drive Module hulls for the UK Boxer variants.

Minister for Defence Procurement, Jeremy Quin, said: “Today marks a significant milestone for the Boxer programme, as these modernised modular vehicles become one step closer to being delivered to the British Army.

“Supporting 120 jobs in Stockport, vital knowledge and industry expertise will be central to building armoured hulls and assembling the finished Boxer vehicles required for future Army capabilities.”

WFEL has been selected as the KMW UK footprint for the Boxer MIV Program and will employ high levels of UK content, creating and protecting sovereign engineering and manufacturing skills, ensuring that the vehicles remain supported through their operational life.

As well as manufacturing the armoured hulls for the British Army's new vehicles, WFEL will be responsible for the Assembly, Integration and Testing (AIT) of a total of 225 Boxer MIV vehicles under the £2.3 bn contract signed between UK MoD and ARTEC in November 2019.

WFEL has recently announced a number of sub-contract awards as part of the supply chain roll out programme for its Boxer Programme, including agreements with Horstman, David Brown Santasalo and BCW Engineering.

WFEL continues its recruitment campaign for the Boxer Programme, offering long-term employment opportunities in a variety of roles across the new manufacturing site in Stockport.

On 25^th May, UK Defence Minister, Jeremy Quin, officially opened WFEL's new Boxer vehicle production facility, saying, “Our Boxer programme is playing a significant role in boosting prosperity, supporting skills, protecting over 1,000 jobs across the North West, North East, West Midlands, central Scotland, Wales and throughout the UK wider supply chain.”

UK Military Bridge manufacturer, WFEL, is to supply a number of its Dry Support Bridges (DSB) to the Philippine Army under the Horizon 2 phase of the revised AFP Modernisation Programme.

The DSB systems can be deployed in around 90 minutes to provide temporary infrastructure and will be supplied with pedestrian walkways, for use in Disaster Relief operational situations, as well as other military scenarios. The Philippine Army, having a choice of launch vehicle chassis for its bridges, opted for the Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) 45m 10 x 10 systems.

Intended for use by the Philippine Combat Engineers, the Dry Support Bridges will be manufactured at WFEL's production facility in Stockport, UK; delivery will begin during 2023.

An Integrated Logistics Support package is also included in the contract for this new Combat Engineering Equipment, ensuring back-up and support from WFEL's Technical Engineering Teams and giving confidence to the Combat Engineers of continued through-life support and spares availability.

Ian Anderton, WFEL's Managing Director, commented, "We warmly welcome the Philippine Army into our ever-growing user base of DSB Military Bridging Systems. We are proud of the fact that the Dry Support Bridge is the world's most technically advanced, rapidly deployable military bridge of its type and has proven its worth in both Combat and Disaster Relief situations time after time.

"By adopting the Dry Support Bridge, the Philippine Army is ensuring it has the future capability to quickly manoeuvre across wet and dry gaps in complex, physical terrain, including man-made gaps, ravines and rivers, as efficiently as possible and under the widest possible operational scenarios."

With a 120 tonnes Military Load Classification, the Dry Support Bridge was initially designed and developed by WFEL for the US Army. Offering full interoperability with any other DSB bridging system, it has been adopted by various countries worldwide, including USA, Turkey and Australia. Switzerland has also acquired a number of Dry Support Bridges and is known to have extensively deployed the DSB as temporary infrastructure following flooding and other natural disasters.

This increasing worldwide user-base provides an off-the-shelf, low risk military bridging solution. The DSB is currently being evaluated by UK MoD as a replacement for their BR90 bridging systems.

Another historic moment in the UK MoD's Boxer Programme has taken place, with the very first delivery of machined component parts for the Mechanised Infantry Vehicles being delivered to WFEL's Stockport manufacturing facility.

WFEL's Boxer Warehouse and Quality teams received this first delivery from Lancashire-based BCW Manufacturing Group, who have been selected as a nominated sub-contractor from an initial group of over 20 qualifying companies. BCW have demonstrated compliance with the strict Quality and Engineering capability criteria required as part of WFEL's world-class Supplier Approval Procedures. This process included a First Article Inspection which was completed satisfactorily prior to delivery.

WFEL's Managing Director, Ian Anderton, commented, "I am extremely pleased with the roll-out of our UK supply chain for the Boxer vehicles for our British Army customer. This £2.3bn programme is delivering economic benefits not just for WFEL but for many other companies around the UK, particularly in the North of England. This first delivery from BCW is another historic moment as we ramp up to begin the first-ever production of these Mechanised Infantry Vehicles in the UK."

Nick Eary, Business Development Director, ANSUKA Group (BCW's parent company) added, "We are both delighted and proud to be part of the team contributing to the delivery of the new Boxer vehicles for the British Army. We have already built a strong relationship with WFEL's Procurement Team, who know we can be relied on for this and potential future deliveries of specialist parts. It was particularly pleasing to be able to deliver the goods two weeks ahead of the requested delivery date."

UK Minister for Defence Procurement, Jeremy Quin, has visited WFEL to formally open the new Boxer Armoured Vehicle Production Facility, in advance of first-stage production commencement. This new facility in Stockport will play a significant role in the manufacture of the Boxer, the British Army’s latest armoured vehicle.

During his visit, the Minister saw first-hand the newly built production line and met with WFEL personnel who will be working directly on the state-of-the art vehicles. He also met with WFEL Apprentices and heard about the latest developments in the roll-out of the UK supply chain for the Boxer programme.

Speaking at the event, Minister Quin said: “Our Boxer programme is playing a significant role in boosting prosperity, supporting skills, protecting over 1,000 jobs across the North West, North East, West Midlands, central Scotland, Wales and throughout the UK wider supply chain.

“This new production line is creating 120 new jobs at WFEL, further cementing our investment in UK innovation and expertise.”

The Minister also had the opportunity to see a live demonstration of the latest Boxer variant - the Boxer Bridge-layer - which incorporates bridge sections manufactured by WFEL personnel in Stockport.

Ian Anderton, WFEL's Managing Director, commented, "We were honoured that the UK Defence Minister was able to visit us, to see the progress already made in this significant, new, armoured vehicle programme for the British Army. In spite of the restrictions caused by the COVID pandemic, our teams have succeeded in keeping us on schedule and we are now poised to begin production. We look forward to delivering the first vehicles to the Army in due course".

A number of significant supply chain contract awards for the UK Boxer Programme have recently been announced by WFEL, including agreements with Horstman and David Brown Santasalo.

WFEL continues its recruitment campaign for the Boxer Programme, offering long-term employment opportunities in a variety of roles across the new manufacturing site.

The UK decided to re-join the Boxer programme in 2018 and since then has committed £2.3bn to deliver over 500 vehicles to the British Army. They will be made up of four variants: Infantry Carrier, Specialist Carrier, Command Vehicle and Ambulance.

WFEL and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) are delighted to announce their agreement with one of the world’s leading power transmission companies, Huddersfield-based David Brown Santasalo (DBS), for the supply of Powerpack blocks for the UK BOXER Mechanised Infantry Vehicles. On behalf of WFEL and KMW, David Brown Santasalo will assemble around 250 Powerpack blocks (transmission, engine and cooling systems), beginning delivery in Autumn 2022 and covering a 10-year period of supply.

As part of KMW's extensive UK Boxer Technology Transfer Programme, this particular contract will sustain and create at least 20 jobs in the North of England at David Brown Santasalo and its wider supply chain, whilst further contributing to the UK's sovereign industrial defence capabilities.  DBS is internationally recognised as one of the most innovative suppliers of bespoke land and marine power transmission systems. The £30 million order will ensure that the fully assembled and tested Powerpack units are delivered to WFEL’s new, dedicated, state-of-the-art BOXER MIV production facility in Stockport, where they will be integrated into the BOXER vehicles.

Steve Watson, DBS Global Defence Director and Managing Director UK said, “Through the development of this key partnership with KMW and WFEL, we are delighted to continue to contribute to the UK economy and our local community through job retention and creation of new roles. We relish the opportunity to continue to strengthen our local team.”

The Boxer vehicles are being provided to the UK MoD as part of the £2.3bn contract placed with the ARTEC consortium in November 2019.

Ian Anderton, WFEL Managing Director, commented, "As we head closer towards the first ever manufacture of BOXER vehicles here in the UK, we are delighted to welcome DBS to our UK supply chain, a company which has undergone rigorous supplier selection criteria, as part of our wider programme of manufacturing readiness for this vital new capability for the British Army's Strike Brigade."

The David Brown Santasalo contract is one of the first tranche of UK supply chain contracts to be awarded for the BOXER MIV programme and will help support economic growth and level-up regional economic opportunity. The MIV programme aims to support and enhance the UK supply chain, including SMEs. It will also ensure that the UK retains the skills and expertise to support the BOXER vehicles throughout their operational life.

UK Boxer MIV Programme:

KMW and WFEL UK Supply Chain Expands with Further Significant Contract Award

KMW and WFEL are pleased to announce a further sub-contract has been awarded for the UK Boxer Mechanised Infantry Vehicle Programme. Horstman UK will supply over 250 angular gear boxes and control units for the British Army’s Boxer Mechanised Infantry Vehicle programme.

Following rigorous supply chain evaluation, Horstman was selected to ensure best value and lowest risk to the Boxer programme.

This £12 million contract award means that another significant transfer of technology to the UK will be undertaken from Horstman's parent company, RENK, which has made all production Angle Drive Gearboxes for the Boxer vehicles to date. In close collaboration with KMW and WFEL, RENK will ensure all required technical support and investment into Horstman, to ensure that identical Boxer gearbox products are built in the UK at Horstman’s premises in Bath, following identical processes and procedures. The gearboxes will then be supplied to WFEL's new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for assembly into the new Boxer vehicles being produced in Stockport.

Based in Bath, UK, Horstman is already well known for its armoured vehicle suspension systems and this Boxer contract re-kindles a significant history in producing gearboxes for battle tank turrets, tactical 4x4’s and combat engineering vehicles.

Having successfully supplied suspension systems for German Puma Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Horstman has already established relationships with KMW's Engineering and Delivery teams and this sub-contract for the UK Boxer gearbox programme will create or sustain up to 20 skilled roles across Horstman and its wider UK supply chain. Horstman will further expand its Inspection, Assembly, Test and Paint Teams based in Bath.

The Boxer MIV programme aims to source 60% by value of the contract from within the UK, protecting sovereign engineering and manufacturing skills and ensuring that the vehicles remain supported through their 30-year operational life.

Just like WFEL, Horstman UK counts amongst its employees a number of ex-military personnel, well versed and experienced in working with the British Army and industry alike and involvement in this UK Boxer Programme continues a long heritage of providing combat mobility solutions in support of British and allied forces.

The withdrawal of a second contender to supply both Armoured and Tactical Bridging Systems for the British Army's TYRO project, means that UK military bridge designer and manufacturer WFEL is now the sole bidder. Project TYRO aims to provide UK Heavy Forces with Close Support Bridge (CSB) and General Support Bridge (GSB) capabilities for the British Army's Royal Engineers (RE) to cross wet and dry gaps, both on the battlefield and in emergency and disaster relief situations.

The TYRO requirements are for Close Support Bridges (CSB) to be deployed, launched and recovered from armoured vehicles (AVLB) and a wheeled launcher (WVLB) and for the General Support Bridges (GSB) to be self-deployed, providing MLC 100 (Tracked) capability in order to support unrestricted crossing by UK Heavy Forces.

The Assessment Phase (AP) of Project TYRO has already been successfully completed by WFEL, with the Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) being issued in September 2020. Negotiations for the Demonstration & Manufacture phase will now commence in the summer of 2021.

The bridging solutions offered by WFEL include the DSB Dry Support Bridge - which can be fully deployed by only eight people and a single launch vehicle in under 90 minutes - for the GSB requirement; to meet the CSB requirement, WFEL offers KMW’s LEGUAN Bridge. The LEGUAN's fully automatic, horizontal bridge-laying capability provides increased stealth with a low silhouette during a five-minute bridge launch and will be adapted to be launched and recovered from the MoD’s already in-service TITAN armoured bridge launchers and a new wheeled bridge launcher.

The TYRO Assessment Phase saw WFEL carrying out comprehensive stress and fatigue testing, to verify MLC ratings and life expectancy of the different bridge types and also allowing WFEL to incorporate future Bridge Fatigue Management Systems.

WFEL and KMW extensively demonstrated the capabilities of their mobile bridging systems against MoD user requirements, with particular emphasis on the systems’ load carrying capability and overall durability.

WFEL's Dry Support Bridge is one of the world’s most technically advanced, rapidly deployable military bridges of its type. Over 150 systems have already been supplied to the US, Australian, Swiss and Turkish armed forces. Having also been used as temporary infrastructure in Iraq and Afghanistan, the bridge has been designed and proven for use in both Military and Disaster Relief situations by loads of up to 120 tonnes. This significant installed base of equipment ensures that WFEL's DSB customers have a high level of confidence in continued through-life support and spares availability.

The DSB launch vehicle is available on the user’s choice of chassis and its adoption by the Australian Defence Force onto Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) 10 x 10 fully armoured chassis, has further strengthened the DSB’s market dominance, enhancing the system’s compatibility with UK MOD’s current fleet of RMMV vehicles, including HX77 variant, which is already capable of carrying WFEL’s bridge system without modification.

A key requirement for military equipment is interoperability; WFEL's precision engineering manufacturing techniques ensure that any DSB bridge module is compatible with any other DSB bridge module, independent of the chassis used for the bridge launcher, allowing swapping and sharing of resources during NATO and other joint exercises worldwide.

Already selected by 19 armed forces, KMW's LEGUAN bridge system is outstanding in terms of modularity, interoperability and load-carrying capacity and is well suited to meet the UK’s CSB requirement. Beyond its core ability to launch a bridge under any condition within minutes, the LEGUAN system provides additional features to enhance its tactical value, including night vision systems, laser range finder, auxiliary power unit and crew compartment cooling system. The LEGUAN can be used in Military or Disaster Relief operations and, for both MLC80 and MLC100 bridge types at either 26m or 14m length, a life cycle monitor system, and a civilian-use kit - consisting of centre cover plates and handrails - is available. To date, KMW has supplied almost 250 tracked LEGUAN systems, 45 wheeled LEGUAN systems and almost 500 bridges plus 5 ferry and floating kits to some 19 users, with many of these being NATO members.

ARTEC consortium member, KMW, has concluded a further contractual agreement with WFEL for the production over ten years of Boxer Vehicle Drive Module fabricated hulls - together with a further contract for the Assembly, Integration and Test (AIT) of approximately half of the 500 vehicles to be supplied to the British Army, under the £2.3bn contract signed with ARTEC at the end of 2019.

This is another significant milestone for the UK Boxer MIV Programme and for the UK’s military vehicle capability, with the advent of manufacturing a new class of armoured vehicles here in the UK.

This next phase of the Boxer MIV programme also embeds within WFEL welding practices specific to the manufacture of armoured steel hulls for highly protected vehicles, further developing a key skill for the UK Military Land sector. WFEL is already accredited to International Welding Standards TL2350-0003 and ISO 9606-1 and a number of WFEL personnel have, for many months, been seconded to Germany to learn the intricate details of this specialist skill, under the expert tuition of KMW’s experienced technicians. On successful completion of their rigorous training, these personnel will play a crucial part in the production of the Boxer Vehicles in North West England.

The signing of these contracts now allows further mobilisation of WFEL’s UK supply chain, including placement of firm orders to procure a variety of the machined and fabricated sub-assemblies necessary for manufacture of the Boxer hulls.

Following extensive Technology Transfer programmes and close collaborations with the ARTEC consortium, WFEL continues to develop a robust UK supply chain with technically capable suppliers. Detailed discussions with UK fabrication and machining SMEs are now going ahead for the provision of specific Boxer Drive Module hull assembly components. This further development of WFEL’s supply chain is expected to both sustain and create jobs around the UK.

Additionally, WFEL will further ramp-up its recruitment of yet more specialist Operational and Fabrication personnel. WFEL expects to create around 120 new long-term jobs at its Stockport site, supporting the UK defence industry and the UK economy.

Ian Anderton, WFEL’s Managing Director, commented, “The Boxer vehicles are amongst the most advanced armoured vehicles in the world and WFEL’s new state-of-the-art Boxer production hall, currently nearing completion, will be one of the most advanced military vehicle manufacturing facilities of its type. We have already contracted with a number of UK suppliers for the construction, site infrastructure and security facilities for this new production facility. “The signing of these latest contracts with KMW means that WFEL can confidently move forward to implement the next stages of the UK Boxer manufacturing programme. In doing so, we are offering a significant number of long-term career opportunities for highly skilled personnel to work on producing these advanced military vehicles, which will provide key defence capabilities for the British Army as part of its Strike Brigade. We look forward to engaging with yet more supply chain partners as we move another step closer to the first of these uniquely modular military vehicles rolling off our production lines and being delivered to the British Army.”