LAND 400 – the scale of things to come
Project LAND 400 Phase 2 will acquire 225 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles (CRV) to replace the Australian Light Armoured Vehicle (ASLAV) – and a recent gathering of all the vehicles, plus an Abrams tank, at Mount Bundey live-fire range gave an insight into the scale of things to come.
Rheinmetall has offered the Boxer Multi Role Armoured Vehicle integrated with the Rheinmetall Lance turret.
BAE Systems Australia has teamed with Patria of Finland to offer the Patria Armoured Modular Vehicle integrated with the BAE Hägglunds E35 turret.
On 28 July 2016, Defence announced that BAE Systems Australia and Rheinmetall had been shortlisted to participate in a Risk Mitigation Activity, which is the second stage of the tender evaluation process and on 19 August, Defence signed Risk Mitigation Activity contracts with BAE Systems Australia and Rheinmetall.
The Risk Mitigation Activity encompasses a one-year test-and-evaluation program in conjunction with cost-and-capability trade-off assessments, the development of Australian Industry Capability Plans reflecting differing levels of Australian involvement, and the development of contract documentation including specifications and schedules.
Two vehicles from each tenderer have been delivered to Defence and are being used in the test-and-evaluation program, including comprehensive live-fire training at Pucapunyal, Victoria, and Mount Bundey near Darwin in the Northern Territory.
The eventual LAND 400 Phase 2 fleet will include seven variants, including fighting vehicles, command vehicles, reconnaissance and ambulance variants.
MEANWHILE: An Army Demonstration Day in Canberra this week showcased these vehicles and a range of other vehicles and equipment currently being rolled out, soon to be rolled out or in consideration for possible acquisition by the Army.
A number of retired generals as well as future Army leaders from ADFA and RMC viewed and were impressed by the equipment.
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Dear Brian,
Welcome home from Townsville. Do you have any photos that you could include in the next newsletter?
Regards,
John
Hi John. I presume this comment is attached to this story generically (because I wasn’t in lvl for this topic) – and, while there are lots of great photos and video from that trip (if I do say so myself), it will be a little while before I get them published. I’m off on another road trip (Pucka) tomorrow. I do hope to publish videos in particular from the Lvl trip sooner rather than later, but most of the stories/photos will be in the September issue of CONTACT. I hope you can wait that long 😉
Brian Hartigan
CONTACT Editor
As an observation I have seen both contenders and they are big, heavy and loud, no more sneak and peeking!