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Army orders more Bushmasters for LAND8113 Ph.2

Thales Australia will build more than 40 Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles – Medium (PMV-M) in Bendigo, under a contract worth more than $100 million.

These additional Bushmasters will be used by the Army’s second long-range fires regiment, 15 Regiment, to be based at the Edinburgh Defence Precinct in South Australia as part of the recently formed 10th Fires Brigade.

“These vehicles will be providing what’s called command and control for that regiment,” said Pat Conroy, Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery. “These vehicles will do the targeting and the coordination and communications that will allow that regiment to strike targets at range to deter aggression.” It’s possible that these vehicles will actually equip the new 9 Regiment, which is due to field an undisclosed number of CEA Technologies’ CEATAC and CEAOPS phased array radars, and will support both 14 and 15 Regiment.

The newly formed 15 Regiment will be equipped under Project LAND8113 Ph.2 with one of two possible long-range, land-based anti-ship missiles: the Kongsberg/Thales Strikemaster, which has two Bushmaster-equipped Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) with a range of more than 250km; and the Lockheed Martin PrSM Increment 2 missile, fired from a HiMARS vehicle, which also has two missiles and a range of more than 500km. Defence says it will conduct a competitive trial this calendar year.

“The Bushmaster vehicles will contribute to the acceleration of a land-based long-range strike capability for the Army, demonstrating a commitment to modernising the Australian Defence Force,” according to Pat Conroy, Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery.

Over the past two and a half year the Australian government has invested over $300 million in contracts for new Bendigo-built Bushmasters, delivering a total of more than 130 vehicles to the Australian Army, he added.

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