Supacat wins Australian special forces vehicle contract

Supacat will deliver 89 Special Operations Vehicles - Commando (SOV-Cdo) to the Australian military under a $105 million contract with the Defence Material Organisation (DMO) announced on 19 August. The vehicles are being acquired under the JP2097 Ph 1B (REDFIN) programme.

The new SOV-Cdo, based on the latest MK2 version of Supacat’s HMT Extenda, has been specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Australian special forces. The company has already built and delivered the prototype SOV-Cdo under the programme’s Prototype Development and Evaluation phase.

Nicholas Ames, managing director, Supacat Group, said: ‘This is the first of the MK2 HMT Extenda’s to go into production and represents a significant increase in capability in terms of protection, transportability and firepower, while retaining the mobility and versatility for which the vehicle has become well known.’

The HMT Extenda is convertible to either a 4x4 or 6x6 configuration to meet different operational requirements. It has an open architecture to provide various levels of protection, and can be configured for a range of missions. The SOV-Cdo will be delivered in four reconfigurable roles.

Supacat has partnered with Australian companies located throughout NSW and Victoria within Supacat Team Australia to manufacture components and assemble the vehicles at a facility in Western Sydney.  In January 2012 Supacat opened offices in Australia to manage Supacat’s activities in the Asia Pacific region and which will be responsible for delivering the programme.