Australia procures additional Bushmaster vehicles

Thales will build 268 Bushmaster vehicles at its Bendigo facility for the ADF. (Commonwealth of Australia)

The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) announced on 27 April an investment of AUD750 million (USD539 million) to build 268 additional Thales Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles (PMVs) for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

The DoD said the vehicles will be manufactured at Thales Australia's Bendigo facility in Victoria. The investment will span seven years, it added.

“The delivery of these additional Bushmasters will significantly boost the ADF's combat capability and force projection, as part of a modernised protected mobility fleet able to operate in our immediate region,” the DoD said.

“Bushmasters are critical to the integrated force – including littoral manoeuvre, long-range fires, and the amphibious capable combined arms land system.”

According to the DoD, Canberra has also agreed to sell recently delivered Bushmaster vehicles to the Netherlands following a request from the Dutch government. Thales will replace the vehicles for the ADF at no cost in its next production run, alongside the new Australian Army order, the DoD added.

The sale of recently delivered Bushmaster PMVs to Netherlands follows a contract valued at more than AUD100 million that the DoD awarded Thales in January 2025 to procure 40 Bushmaster PMVs.

In addition to the Bushmaster PMVs, the DoD announced an investment worth AUD450 million to upgrade Thales Hawkei mobility vehicles and Rheinmetall's medium/heavy truck capability as part of the 2026 Integrated Investment Program's (IIP's) protected mobility vehicle modernisation programme. The DoD added that the Hawkei modernisation will be conducted by Thales at its Brisbane facility in Queensland.

“Through these projects, the government is investing AUD1.2 billion in uplifting ADF's fleet of protected mobility vehicles,” the DoD said.