Australian telehandlers will soon be replaced. (Photo: Gordon Arthur)
Australia has awarded Ventia a contract under Project Land 8120 Phase 1 to replace existing earthmoving and materiel handling equipment used by the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
Following ADF evaluation of an RfT that closed on 30 July 2019, this contract for approximately 300 vehicles is worth A$158 million ($116.7 million) over a five-year period.
A contract had been expected before the end of last year, so COVID-19 may have had a part to play in that.
The ADF had been looking for 24 all-terrain cranes (45-60t); 41 rough-terrain forklifts (18t); four concrete batching trailers; 39 compact tracked loaders; six high-mobility
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The Polaris Government and Defense’s Military RZR (MRZR) Alpha 1KW was displayed at the Modern Day Marine exposition in the US earlier this year and with the Alakran mobile mortar weapon system at DSEI. The company outlined recent firing trials with the Alakran mobile mortar weapon system (MMWS) which was weeks after the company announced a major NATO deal.
The vehicles are based on the latest version of the BvS10 All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) and include variants for troop transport, logistics, medical evacuation, recovery, and command and control. An unarmoured version is being delivered to the US and offered to Canada.
Thales launched Storm-H in 2012 as an EW system equipping individual dismounted troops, and a decade later revealed details to develop the improved and more powerful Storm 2.
Drones and military ground vehicles are increasingly being designed to operate together as a single platform or even to convert crewed systems to automated ones.
The acquisition, which is part of the country’s broader defence package worth DKK58 billion (US$9.2 billion), goes against the grain with many other European countries opting for the US’s popular Patriot platform.
The UK’s Land Mobility Programme (LMP) seems set to be delayed once again but industry is jockeying for position to partner in what would be one of the biggest ever buys for the British Army.
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