Australia Advances A$7.5Bn Vehicle Project

Minister for Defence Stephen Smith and Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare today announced that the Government had taken the next step in the $7.5 billion Project Overlander that will provide the Australian Defence Force with around 7,500 new vehicles over the next decade. Project Overlander will replace the current fleet of Land Rovers, Unimog, Mack and S-Liner trucks and their associated trailers and modules. These new vehicles represent a significant increase in capability, replacing multiple vehicles fleets that have been in service since the early 1980s. LAND 121 Phase 3B Protected and Unprotected Medium and Heavy Vehicles Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Australia has been down-selected as the preferred tenderer and will now enter into detailed negotiations to provide up to 2,700 protected and unprotected medium and heavy vehicles under LAND 121 Phase 3B. Options will also be sought for approximately 1,000 more unprotected vehicles for training purposes under LAND 121 Phase 5B. This decision has been made after lengthy tender evaluations that involved both desktop analysis and vehicle performance testing. Rheinmetall MAN was selected as it offered the best value for money and met Defence requirements for capability and cost.