A new Bushmaster defence production deal will provide a seven-year $750 million boost to Bendigo and Brisbane’s defence industry.
The deal is part of a $1.2 billion spending package on armoured vehicles and will secure 300 jobs in Bendigo, Victoria, and Brisbane, Queensland.
The Defence Department says the French-owned Thales Australia will build 268 Bushmasters for Australia at its Bendigo plant.
Production at the factory is expected to continue until 2033.
BUSHMASTER ORDERS
The Bushmaster has been sold to nine countries like New Zealand, Indonesia and Fiji, and Canberra has just approved a Dutch order for the vehicles.
The vehicles have also been given to Ukraine who are using it on the frontline in its war with Russia; more than 120 of the vehicles are said to have been given to the Ukraine armed forces.
The 7.1-metre long vehicle can carry up to 10 troops in comfort and is armed with machine guns.
It has been equipped with anti-drone defence that allows it to detect, track and destroy drones of all sizes, even on the move, Thales says.
The new Bushmasters will come on top of a production batch that is replacing those vehicles given to Ukraine as well as 59 vehicles allocated for the Army’s LAND 8113 program long-range land strike capability.
The federal government will also spend $450 million on upgrading the Thales Hawkei the Rheinmetall medium/heavy truck vehicles; the Hawkei vehicles will be modernised by Thales in Brisbane, creating 150 local jobs.
Defence Minister Richard Marles says the Bushmaster and Hawkei are recognised world-leading armoured vehicles.
Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy says “we’re building close to 300 Bushmasters, securing around 300 local jobs and delivering long-term certainty to the industry, workers and region that depends on this critical capability”.
