FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Rheinmetall said on Tuesday it was in talks with a number of UK partners for the Boxer armoured vehicle, including BAE Systems, Thales UK, Raytheon, Rolls-Royce and Pearson Engineering, after Britain said it would rejoin the programme.

Britain's Ministry of Defence said that the assessment phase of negotiations would end next year. If a deal is struck after that, the first vehicles could enter service in 2023.

The Boxer is made by Artec, a joint venture in which Rheinmetall holds 64 percent and peer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann 36 percent.

(Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Douglas Busvine)

Stocks treated in this article : Thales, Raytheon, Rheinmetall, Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems