Field fleet revs up

THE AIR Force’s No. 382 Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron and No. 2 Air Field Defence Squadron located at RAAF Base Amberley will be among the first to be supplied with new field vehicles and trailers.

The two high-readiness squadrons will receive the field vehicles and trailers as part of the first stage of a major program to replace the Australian Defence Force fleet.

Defence Minister Robert Hill said this was a significant project for industry and for Defence, delivering many thousands of vehicles over the next decade at a cost expected to be more than one billion dollars.

“The fleet of field vehicles and trailers is the backbone of the ADF’s war-fighting support and deployment”, Senator Hill said.

The first stage of the project involves seeking expressions of interest from suitably qualified companies to tender for the supply of the vehicles and trailers.

The field vehicle and trailer fleets are used to transport personnel, combat supplies, materiel, replacement combat systems and to evacuate casualties where necessary.

They also serve as platforms and prime movers for command, control, communications, computer and intelligence systems, and weapon systems.

Senator Hill said that while recent upgrades have proved valuable to the fleet, the replacement program planned under Project Land 121 will equip Defence for the longer term.

“The intention is to reduce whole-of-life cost, rationalise vehicle types and numbers, incorporate new road safety and legislative design features and bring together new ideas from industry,” Senator Hill said.

The follow-on phase will complete the replacement of the entire fleet.

Project plans have been released under an Invitation to Register Interest that will remain open until November 5.

.