Prototypes delivered for Australia’s Land 121

All three competing bidders for Phase 4 of Australia’s Land 121 programme have delivered two prototypes each to the Department of Defence (DoD).

The prototypes from Force Protection Australasia, General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) Australia, and Thales Australia were all submitted by 25 February for evaluation tests as part of the next stage of the land programme. This is for the acquisition of 1,300 specialised protected mobility vehicles to replace part of the army’s Land Rover Defender fleet with light protected vehicles.

It was announced in May 2010 that the three companies were awarded contracts of values up to A$9 million each as part of the A$1 billion Land 121 Phase 4 Manufactured and Supported in Australia (MSA) programme. The contracts called for the development of two prototypes apiece for trails and evaluation.

Characterised by a large protected interior space for crew, equipment and stores, the Thales-built air-transportable Hawkei has four doors, advanced technology for rapid up-armouring and straightforward reconfiguration between variants, a statement from the company said.

Leveraged on ‘the experience gained on the highly successful Bushmaster’, according to Thales Australia CEO Chris Jenkins, the Hawkei also has Bushmaster levels of blast and ballistic protection.

Thales Australia has made the delivery as part of this ‘rapid development programme’ with the help of companies including Plasan, Boeing Defense Australia, and the PAC Group.

GDLS Australia has offered its Eagle 4x4, which is a ‘combat-proven, low-risk’ system that delivers improved soldier protection, mobility and payload, according to the company.

Gary Stewart, GDLS Australia Managing Director, said of the Eagle currently in service with several armies ‘there is no substitute for operational experience when proving the credibility of an armoured vehicle system’.

Force Protection Australasia delivered two of its Ocelots for assessment. The Ocelot is designed with a V-shape hull to provide top survivability levels to protect crew and mission systems from mine and blast threats. One each of its command and utility variants has been handed over for evaluation.

On top of the two delivered, other possible mission-role configurations include protected patrol and special weapons variants.