The team at Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land had the opportunity to showcase the progress being made on both Boxer and Challenger 3 manufacture to Duke of Edinburgh in Telford this week.
Prince Edward visited RBSL during a visit to the county on Wednesday and met managing director Colin McClean for a tour of the Hadley Castle Telford site.
The duke met apprentices and members of RBSL’s Armed Forces Network, including a reservist who was part of Operation Golden Orb, the King’s coronation parade
He also spoke with engineers, technicians and those working on the business’s programmes to deliver British Army capability.
Mr McClean said: “His Royal Highness’s visit to our main site here in the birthplace of modern engineering, the county of Shropshire, where we have such a strong and proud heritage, is the very epitome of what this business is about and highlights why we come to work every day and do what we do.
“We would like to thank His Royal Highness for taking the time to visit us.”
Prince Edward presented awards to RBSL employees working within its Survivability and In-Service Support teams and to first-year apprentice Lily Blakemore, who was named Business Apprentice Rising Star at this year’s Make UK Midlands and East regional dinner.
The duke was also presented with one of the first cuts of Challenger 3 armoured steel.
His visit comes after the Challenger programme achieved another major milestone earlier this year with the 120mm smoothbore gun test firings successfully completed.
The first firings with the 120mm L55A1 weapon system in the 120mm L55A1CR3 configuration for the British CR3 Main Battle Tank (MBT) took place in April this year. The new 120mm L55A1CR3 weapon system will provide the British Army with the capability to meet all current and future battlefield challenges.
The first two 120mm smoothbore L55A1 weapons entered production ahead of schedule in 2021 at Rheinmetall’s Unterluess facility. The weapon is a key component to the CR3 programme, which aims to deliver the most capable tank in Nato. Following production, the smoothbore guns have been tested and validated prior to delivery to Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) in Telford for integration with the new digital turret.
In September, RBSL also announced it had made ‘significant progress’ as it moves closer to rolling the first British Army Boxer Vehicle off its production line, with welding completed on the first UK-manufactured mission module for the programme.
Source: Shropshire Star
