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The Commonwealth government has reportedly approved the multibillion-dollar order of a fleet of the armoured fighting vehicles.
Australian Army’s request to purchase 75 M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams Main Battle Tanks under the LAND 907 Phase 2 project has been reportedly greenlit by the Commonwealth cabinet, with a formal announcement expected to be made imminently.
A separate order for 29 M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicles (ABVs), 17 M1074 Joint Assault Bridges (JABs), six M88A2 Hercules Combat Recovery Vehicles, and 122 AGT1500 gas turbine engines as part of LAND 8160 Phase 1 has also been approved.
This follows the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency's (DSCA) decision to sanction a US$1.7 billion ($2.2 billion) Commonwealth government request to purchase M1A1 Tank structures/hulls in May.
The M1A2 SEPv3 Main Battle Tanks are expected to upgrade the existing fleet, with no changes to Royal Australian Armoured Corps force structure.
The M88A2 vehicles are to provide additional de-processing and combat vehicle recovery support for the current fleet, while the M1150 ABVs and M1074 JABs deliver new capability to the Royal Australian Engineers.
The ABVs and JABs are tipped to deliver under-armour bridging and breaching capability, helping to increase the effectiveness and survivability of Australian combat engineers and provide increased mobility for the armoured fleet.
More to come
[Related: Defence procures $2.5bn in AFVs, CH-47F Chinooks]
Charbel Kadib
News Editor – Defence and Security, Momentum Media
Prior to joining the defence and aerospace team in 2020, Charbel was news editor of The Adviser and Mortgage Business, where he covered developments in the banking and financial services sector for three years. Charbel has a keen interest in geopolitics and international relations, graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a double major in politics and journalism. Charbel has also completed internships with The Australian Department of Communications and the Arts and public relations agency Fifty Acres.
