Land 121 Phase 5b includes 1,044 trucks & 872 modules + 812 trailers and more
Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) was awarded a contract by Australia’s procurement organisation CASG for additional medium and heavy trucks.
The total value of Land 121 Phase 5b is slated at A$1.4 billion and includes 1,044 trucks and 872 modules from RMMV as well as 812 trailers and other government furnished equipment such as weapon systems and communications devices.
Maj.Gen. David Coghlan, Head of Land Systems at the Australian DoD’s Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) procurement organisation, said that the RMMV portion of the contract was about A$1 billion that would, “complete the renewal of the Army’s truck fleet.”
According to a spokesperson from RMMV, the contract is an extension of an earlier Land 121 Phase 3b contract that ordered 2,700 protected and unprotected trucks. These were to replace ageing Unimog and Mack trucks as they were becoming increasingly expensive to retain in service.
Maj.Gen. Coghlan said that the Unimogs and Macks were 35 years old and repair parts for the Unimogs have been, “scarce for 10 years,” and as the original truck replacement project was cancelled and re-started the delay meant, “it cost a lot to maintain those vehicles,” and to, “reverse engineer parts sometimes cost more than the original price of the vehicle.”
The 3b contract included 3,858 modules and 1,704 trailers. Deliveries started in April 2016 and were due to be completed in 2020.
The Army needed new trucks quickly so the choice was made under Phase 3B to get some into service. The RMMV spokesperson said that as time went on it was realised that additional vehicles were needed. As the 3b contract was due to end in 2020, before the RMMV production line stopped CASG initiated the 5b requirement and ordered the extra trucks.
Orders for the additional vehicles are the same as the original 3b contract. This means more HX2, HX40M 4×4, HX42M 6×6, HX77 8×8, HX81 and 45M 10×10 trucks. These fill a variety of roles including: cargo, crane, tipper truck, medium and heavy load carriers, those fitted with an integrated load handling system, fuel/water transports, heavy equipment transports, bridging and recovery vehicles.
Trailer suppliers include: Varley, Holmwood, Haulmark, Penske, ECLIPS, RPC Tech, and TRT.
Tim Fish
