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Rheinmetall Defence Australia has announced Brisbane-based company NIOA will be a key supplier of ammunition and armament services in support of its LAND 400 Phase 2 offer.
Rheinmetall is bidding its 8x8 Boxer CRV vehicles for the LAND 400 Phase 2 project.
The BOXER CRV is fitted with the LANCE two-man 30mm turret and is designed to perform at high levels of protection for Australian troops.
The purpose of LAND 400 is to acquire and support the next generation of Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFV) with the firepower, protection and mobility to defeat increasingly lethal and adaptive adversaries well into the future.
BAE Systems Australia is also tendering for the Phase 2 of the program, and has offered the AMV35 – Patria’s modern, agile, highly protected military-off-the-shelf Armoured Modular Vehicle, integrated with the combat-proven E35 turret from BAE Systems Hägglunds.
Currently, the LAND 400 Phase 2 Risk Mitigation Activity (RMA) is on schedule for completion in August 2017. The RMA includes a 12-month test and evaluation program of the Rheinmetall and BAES Australia vehicles. It will also investigate options to improve Australian industry involvement in the LAND 400 program.
NIOA, Australia’s largest privately-owned supplier of small arms, and Rheinmetall have said their latest partnership is underpinned by a commercial relationship spanning 20 years and a shared commitment to placing Australian Industry Capability at the centre of Rheinmetall’s offer to deliver the BOXER CRV to the Australian Defence Force.
Rheinmetall has a longstanding supplier relationship with NIOA through its weapon and munitions arm, Rheinmetall Weapons and Munitions (RWM), built on the delivery of world class ammunition and pyrotechnics to the Australian Defence Force, and state and federal police forces.
"Working side by side on our Land 400 Phase 2 offer represents a natural next step in the relationship between Rheinmetall and NIOA," Rheinmetall Defence Australia managing director Andrew Fletcher said.
"Today’s agreement establishes yet another foundation in the development of Rheinmetall’s growing defence industrial network in Australia."
NIOA’s indigenous capabilities will also augment the establishment of national infrastructure asset for military vehicles in Australia to underpin a 50-year strategic relationship between the Commonwealth of Australia, the Australian Army and defence industry.
As a historic supplier of military vehicles to the Australian Defence Force, Rheinmetall will establish a military vehicle centre of excellence (MILVEHCOE) which creates a program of continuous design, build and support for military vehicles in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.
Rheinmetall said this world class facility will draw on a network of suppliers across Australia to deliver products and services to Australia’s growing fleet of military vehicles, and open the way for these companies to supply Rheinmetall military vehicle programs around the world through the company’s global supply chain.
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