Contract to replace some Bushmasters sent to Ukraine
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Thales Australia has welcomed the announcement today by Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy of a $160million contract to build new Bushmaster Protected Vehicles for the Australian Army.
FILE PHOTO: Australian-government-donated Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles bound for Ukraine at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland, in April 2022. Photo by Corporal Jesse Kane.
Thales Australia CEO Jeff Connolly said the manufacture of new Bushmasters would directly support jobs at the Bendigo facility.
“This is a strategic industrial capability that is vital for the Australian Defence Force,” Mr Connolly said.
“Today’s contract signing is an important expression of support from the government, not just for the Bushmaster vehicle, but also for the manufacturing capability and Australian supply chain that produces and sustains the vehicles.
“Work will begin immediately on the new vehicles, with a mix of troop-carrying vehicles and command vehicles to be manufactured over the next 18 months.
“More than 1200 Bushmasters have already been manufactured at our Bendigo facility and, as well as proving to be a life-saving vehicle for the Australian Army in operations in the Middle East, they have been exported to eight nations including the Netherlands, UK, Fiji, Jamaica, New Zealand, Japan and Indonesia.
“Bushmasters gifted to Ukraine by the Australian government are currently in service in Ukraine and providing a vital capability to the Ukrainian Armed Forces as they fight the Russian invasion.
“In addition to our direct employment on site in Bendigo, the manufacture of protected vehicles supports around 360 jobs in our Australian supply chain with many suppliers across regional areas of Victoria and New South Wales.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Today’s press release didn’t say how many vehicles would be built for the tax-payers’ $160million – but, other media outlets are saying 78, which makes them more than $2million each.
Anyway, this order is only a partial replacement for the 90 Bushmasters Australia has sent to Ukraine.
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Great stuff. The Bushmaster will be the M113 of the future – something that will outlive most of us. If only Defence Industry and Defence itself would concentrate on these large scale, relatively simple, production items we’d be set.
Drones that swarm we need in numbers. PMV-M we need (the Bushmaster). Utility vehicles we need (but better than a Hawkei who’s GVM is crap – requiring a spare wheel to be carried in a trailer). On the latter – let us get our Carbon Revolution wheels onto the Hawkei and we have an awesome PMV-L where the “L” means something.
Then, like Hummer, produce a commercial version!