Rheinmetall to Set Up Military Vehicles Production Facility in Australia

Rheinmetall said it is establishing a Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence (MILVEHCOE) in Redbank, Queensland, Australia that enables the design, development and local manufacture of military vehicles, platforms and turrets for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and for export.

The Prime Minister of Australia the Hon Scott Morrison MP officially opened the MILVEHCOE at a ceremony attended by a delegation of Federal MPs and Senators from across Queensland, representatives from Defence and Australian Defence industry, Rheinmetall said in a statement Wednesday.

The MILVEHCOE is an 11ha precinct incorporating a regional headquarters for Rheinmetall and a major manufacturing hub that will deliver vehicles into the ADF including Boxer 8x8 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles (CRV) under Australia’s billion project Land 400 Phase 2 and high mobility logistics trucks under the Land 121 Phase 3B/5B program.

“The MILVEHCOE will enable Australian developed technology and systems to be exported to the world and opens the way for Australian companies to deliver into our programs for current and future nations including NATO members such as Germany and Hungary,” Rheinmetall AG Chief Executive Armin Papperger said.

The MILVEHCOE precinct includes:

Engineering and manufacturing for vehicles, turrets, weapons, armour, electronics and electro-optics and simulators

A vehicle test track and electromagnetic test chamber – used to confirm that vehicles meet the agreed performance specifications prior to delivery to the Australian Army 

An indoor firing range – a fully-enclosed, state of the art firing range

A systems integration laboratory – used to integrate and optimise performance of Australian Army systems and equipment into the vehicles

Facilities for engineering, training, procurement, project management, finance, legal, marketing and management

“Once fully operational, it will enable the manufacture and sustainment of the Australian Army vehicle fleet of BOXER vehicles and provide a sovereign facility where Defence, industry and research organisations can innovate and collaborate on the Australian Boxer and other defence programs,” Rheinmetall Defence Australia Managing Director Gary Stewart commented.

Rheinmetall is establishing an advanced manufacturing workforce of more than 450 employees within the MILVEHCOE precinct.

Rheinmetall is currently delivering 211 Boxer vehicles to the Australian Army under Land 400 Phase 2. The Boxer’s key purpose is to find the enemy; to identify them and choose how and when to engage.

The company is also delivering more than 2500 protected high mobility trucks to the Australian Army under the Land 121 Phase 3B program and building on this logistics backbone for the ADF by supplying a further 1000 trucks to the Commonwealth through the Land 121 Phase 3B/5B program.

Rheinmetall has also offered the Lynx KF41 - a tracked, highly protected Infantry Fighting Vehicle - to meet the stringent military requirements of the $15 billion Land 400 Phase 3 program. The Australian Army needs a new IFV for close combat - to close in and defeat an enemy in the most dangerous and lethal environments for Australian soldiers.