UK Signs £1 Billion RCH 155 Contract for 72 Boxer-Mounted Howitzers via OCCAR to ARTEC
London, 13 May 2026
Key points
- UK Ministry of Defence on 13 May contracted approximately £1 billion via OCCAR to ARTEC GmbH (KNDS–Rheinmetall joint venture) for 72 Remote Controlled Howitzers (RCH 155); first deliveries scheduled 2028
- Replaces the AS90 systems donated to Ukraine in 2023, for which the Swedish-built Archer is the interim capability; performance specification eight rounds per minute, range up to 70 km, 100 km/h road redeployment
- UK industrial split: Boxer 8×8 drive module at KNDS UK Stockport; weapon system at Rheinmetall Telford; British steel via Sheffield Forgemasters; approximately 500 UK jobs sustained including supply chain
The UK Ministry of Defence on 13 May contracted approximately £1 billion via OCCAR to ARTEC GmbH for 72 Remote Controlled Howitzers (RCH 155) Boxer-mounted self-propelled artillery systems, with first deliveries scheduled in 2028 — the first signature-level industrial realisation of the Trinity House Agreement between the UK and Germany.
The award follows the £52 million Early Capability Demonstrator contract of December 2025 and a £53 million Long Lead Item procurement earlier this year. ARTEC, the KNDS–Rheinmetall joint venture, will subcontract through KNDS UK at Stockport for the Boxer 8×8 drive module (approximately 100 jobs sustained) and Rheinmetall Telford for the weapon system (approximately 100 new jobs), with British steel supplied by Sheffield Forgemasters under the UK Steel Strategy. The total programme accounts for approximately 500 UK positions including supply-chain roles.
The RCH 155 replaces the AS90 systems donated to Ukraine in 2023, for which the Swedish-built Archer was the interim capability. Performance specification: eight rounds per minute, range up to 70 kilometres, and 100 km/h road redeployment. The UK procured separately from the Bundeswehr's 84-unit December 2025 framework agreement in order to negotiate UK localisation; the Netherlands, the UK and (per Rheinmetall) Ukraine now sit alongside Germany on a multi-customer RCH 155 user list.
The contract converts the RCH 155 from a single-Bundeswehr file into a multi-customer European programme. The shoot-and-scoot Boxer chassis configuration is the platform model that is spreading across NATO buyers; OCCAR-routed contracting with bilaterally negotiated localisation is the procedural template likely to repeat with forthcoming Polish, Romanian and Baltic procurement signings against the 30 May SAFE single-procurement deadline — a template first set out in the Trinity House Agreement.
Sources: UK Ministry of Defence, OCCAR, ARTEC GmbH, KNDS UK, Rheinmetall, Sheffield Forgemasters.
First reported in Signal No. 60, 14 May 2026.