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Australian Army to procure more Bushmasters to support long-range strike operations

By Sohini Mandal |

The new Bushmaster vehicles will support the Australian Army's long-range strike operations. (Commonwealth of Australia)

The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) has signed a contract with Thales Australia to procure 40 additional Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles (PMVs) to the Australian Army.

In an 8 January press release, the DoD said the vehicles will be built by Thales Australia in Bendigo, Victoria. The contract is valued at more than AUD100 million (USD62 million), it added. The DoD did not provide details about delivery schedules.

The DoD said the new Bushmaster PMVs will be operated by the Australian Army's Second Long Range Fires Regiment of the 10th Brigade based in Edinburgh Defence Precinct near Adelaide in South Australia.

“The vehicles will support a multimission phased-array radar battery to provide critical command-and-control (C2) functions,” the DoD said. Accordingly, the 10th Brigade is tasked with operating long-range strike capabilities such as the Raytheon/Kongsberg National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS). The brigade will also operate Australia's on-order High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).

Australia's Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said, “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 Janes World Armies, the Australian Army operates more than 1,000 Bushmaster vehicles across several variants. Some of these vehicles are integrated with systems including NASAMS.

According to Janes Land Warfare Platforms: Armoured Fighting Vehicles,

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