Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Australia (RMMVA) today delivered the first batch of next-generation military logistics trucks to the Commonwealth of Australia at a ceremony in Brisbane as part of the Project LAND 121 Phase 3B program.
The occasion was marked with an official handover of 12 vehicles at Gallipoli Barracks, near Brisbane, attended by Assistant Minister for Defence, the Hon. Michael McCormack MP.
Also in attendance were officials from the Capability, Acquisition, Sustainment Group (CASG), senior leadership of the Australian Army and senior representatives of Australian companies delivering key elements of the project including Haulmark Trailers Australia, Canberra-based Sea Box Australia, Newcastle-based Varley Group, Sydney-based RPC Technologies and Brisbane-based Holmwood Highgate.
Melbourne-based RMMVA is delivering more than 2,500 medium and heavy protected and unprotected military logistic trucks and nearly 3,000 modules from an integration facility in Brisbane. Haulmark is manufacturing and assembling 1700 trailers at its Rocklea facility in southeast Queensland.
The vehicle systems comprise 4x4, 6x6, 8x8 and 10x10 vehicles featuring cranes, trays, tippers, vehicle recovery systems, fuel and water storage modules, heavy tractors and a heavy integrated load handling system. The vehicles are tested and verified at the Australian Automotive Research Centre’s 1000 hectare site near Anglesea, 125km south-west of Melbourne.
Today’s handover was attended by Ben Hudson, Head of Vehicle Systems at Rheinmetall Defence and a member of the Rheinmetall Defence Executive Board, and Michael Wittlinger, the Head of the Logistics Vehicles business unit and a member of the Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Board.
Mr Wittlinger said the vehicles, trailers and modules delivered to the Commonwealth were a product of close collaboration and expertise supplied by all partners to the program.
“Australian content is a very important part of the Project LAND 121 Phase 3B program, and the project has benefited from the involvement of key Australian partners,” Mr Wittlinger said.
RMMVA’s Australian partners on the Project LAND 121 Phase 3B program include:
- Varley Group - designing and manufacturing more than 550 stores and maintenance modules.
- RPC Technologies - providing 25 specialist interface units to transport, launch and recover heavy floating bridge systems and the support boats.
- Sea Box Australia - designing, developing and managing the production supply of more than 2100 heavy flat racks for the high mobility military vehicle fleet.
- Holmwood Highgate: designing and manufacturing a total of 276 integrated tankers, bulk water and fuel modules.
Rheinmetall Defence is one of the world’s leading suppliers of defence technology, including wheeled and tracked military vehicles, weapons, ammunition, simulation solutions, command and control technology, force protection systems and sensor technologies.
RMMVA has approximately 100 employees in four locations in Australia delivering defence services to the ADF including project management, systems engineering and integration, through life support, repair and maintenance as well as spares management.