«Данное сообщение (материал) создано и (или) распространено иностранным средством массовой информации, выполняющим функции иностранного агента, и (или) российским юридическим лицом, выполняющим функции иностранного агента»
Topic: Land Warfare Blog Brand: The Buzz Region: Asia, and Europe Tags: Boxer Armored Fighting Vehicle, China, Germany, Intellectual Property Theft, Ukraine, and Ukraine War Did China Get Germany’s Boxer Armored Vehicle from Ukraine? December 21, 2025 By: Brandon J. Weichert
Share
It seems unlikely that China could so accurately copy a German armored vehicle from schematics alone. Could it have obtained a live one from the battlefield in Ukraine?
China has become a high-tech superpower rivaling even the United States in key technological domains. Yet, the basis of China’s rise was very much built upon cloning technologies and capabilities of America and Europe. Even today, despite the surge in domestic innovation and production, sometimes China just likes to carbon copy technologies and platforms from the West.
This appears to be precisely what Beijing has done recently with Germany’s Boxer multirole armored vehicle. The Chinese have built an armored personnel carrier (APC) that looks just like the German Boxer—replete with a V-hull design, modular structure, and an armored driver’s cabin. This has been confirmed based upon images of the vehicle being test driven in China’s Baotou Industrial Zone.
It has been speculated that this German knockoff, after it is successfully tested, will be used as an export model for China’s growing (and increasingly competitive) arms export industry. Defence-Blog, an industry publication, asserts that “the platform could serve as a modular testbed for turret and weapon systems compatible with Boxer variants operated by international customers.”
China Is Copying Germany’s Arms Industry
Here, then, is a classic example of China coming behind more expensive Western rivals—this time German arms manufacturers—and trying to collapse the market with cheap knockoffs to the German system. (It is unlikely that the Chinese version is as good as the German original; German engineering is still second-to-none).
But by making this system and its components identical to the German system, Beijing’s arms industrialists are hoping to compete for exclusive market share in the Middle East by offering a similar product at much cheaper prices.
The outside design of the vehicle, including the aforementioned V-hull design, is a mirror image of the German system. Beyond these superficial similarities between the unnamed Chinese APC and the German Boxer, however, little is known about the inner machinations of the Chinese platform.
For instance, there was a noticeable lack of markings or corporate logos on the Chinese system—meaning the vehicle is still very much experimental, and may still not make it to the mass production stage of development.
The Boxer IFV’s (A2/A3) Specifications
- Year Introduced: 2011
- Number Built: 1,866+ (all variants)
- Length: 7.93 m (26.0 ft)
- Total weight, battle ready: ~36.5 tons
- Suspensions: Double-wishbone with coil springs and shock-absorbers
- Engine: MTU 8V199 TE20 engine (720 PS)
- Top Speed: 103 km/h (64 mph) on road
- Range: ~650 km (400 mi)
- Armament: Varies widely; can carry 12.7mm/7.62mm machine gun, 30mm cannon, mortars, missile launchers
- Crew: Varies widely; typically from 2–7 depending on variant
Russia Is Likely Sharing Captured NATO Gear with China
It remains a mystery how the Chinese managed to so precisely copy the modular design of the German Boxer APC. After all, there are no records of official purchases of the German APC made by the Chinese.
Here’s where things get interesting, though.
On January 14, Berlin confirmed the delivery of nine Boxer RCT30 Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs), “integrated with a mobile fire direction center to Ukraine,” according to Army Recognition, another defense industry publication. These vehicles were to be used by Ukraine in very specialized roles, including command-and-control as well as ground-based counter-drone operations.
Media reports over the last 12 months on the status of these nine armored personnel carriers are oddly vague. Most reports, such as the Army Recognition analysis, demonstrate that the systems were delivered to Ukraine in January of this year. No further news or reports of the nine vehicles have been released to the public.
This is purely speculative, but it is possible that at least some of these German-made vehicles were captured by Russian forces in the intense fighting along the front in Ukraine. As with so much of the NATO-provided equipment captured by Russian forces, it is possible that the captured Boxers were then sent back to Russia, where they either shared with or sold to Chinese defense manufacturers—who then promptly cloned the Boxer in Baotou Industrial Zone in Inner Mongolia.
After all, how else did the Chinese manage to rip off the German design if there is no record of a direct purchase by China of the Boxer from Germany? It seems hard to believe that the copies could be this good if the Chinese had merely stolen the vehicle’s blueprints. A more plausible scenario is that a third party shared the system with them. And maybe that third party was Russia, which is in a very close alliance with China—and Beijing is desperate to get a peek under the hood of many NATO systems.
Chinese Knockoffs Are a Serious Problem for Germany
Regardless of how they managed to get their hands on a sophisticated German APC, the fact is—at least superficially—the Chinese copied it and will now use their copies of the Boxer to drive down the cost of the Boxer and its supporting equipment.
In turn, this will damage Germany’s competitive advantage in the global arms export market for this particular system…giving advantage to Chinese defense manufacturers.
And who knows what other advanced captured NATO systems in Ukraine the Russians are sharing with Beijing?
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert is a senior national security editor at The National Interest. Recently, Weichert became the host of The National Security Hour on America Outloud News and iHeartRadio, where he discusses national security policy every Wednesday at 8pm Eastern. Weichert hosts a companion book talk series on Rumble entitled “National Security Talk.” He is also a contributor at Popular Mechanics and has consulted regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including The Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, and the Asia Times. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Shutterstock / Spech.
The post Did China Get Germany’s Boxer Armored Vehicle from Ukraine? appeared first on The National Interest.
Источник: nationalinterest.org