Australia’s Hawkei Vehicle Enters Full-Rate Production

The Hawkei Protected Mobility Vehicle - Light has received approval from the Australian Federal Government to enter full rate production after meeting Defence’s protection requirements through blast and ballistic testing.

“I got behind the wheel of one of our new Australia designed & built Hawkei vehicles that are now entering full-rate production. 50 vehicles will be produced every month at Thales Australia’s protected vehicle facility in Bendigo, Victoria,” Linda Reynolds, Minister for Defence, tweeted on September 3.

A contract for 1,100 Hawkeis was signed between Australian government and Thales in October 2015. The Hawkei PMV is a 7-tonne, next generation light 4 x 4 protected mobility vehicle with a 3-tonne payload originally designed to meet an Australian Defence Force (ADF) requirement for a light armoured patrol vehicle to replace some of its Land Rover Perentie variants.

Last week, the government said it will acquire 251 Remote Weapon Stations (RWS) to be equipped on the Army’s Bushmaster and Hawkei protected mobility vehicles.