Thales Australia’s Hawkei Light Protected Vehicle has been down-selected for the next stage of the Department of Defence’s LAND 121 Phase 4 program to replace the Army’s Land Rover fleet with protected vehicles.
This decision by government is said to reflect the maturity of the Hawkei’s design, its performance, and rapid progress made in testing and validation.
The vehicle – manufactured in Australia by Thales – has completed more than 10,000 kilometres of both on-road and off-road testing, meeting all its performance benchmarks and exhibiting high levels of reliability.
The Hawkei has also successfully passed an extensive series of mine blast, side blast and ballistic protection tests, demonstrating that its technology is able to provide the highest levels of protection for Australian soldiers, according to Thales.
Thales Australia’s chief executive officer, Chris Jenkins, said the decision to back proven Australian design and manufacturing expertise would produce the best outcomes for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the country.
“Thales and our partners are already fully mobilised and well advanced with the vehicle proving program. Our next series of vehicles are already under construction, and we are on track to meet the ambitious timetable to deliver prototypes for Army testing by the end of the year,” he said.
The Hawkei is a next generation solution designed specifically to meet the exacting requirements of the Australian Defence Force. It is backed by the combined expertise of Thales Australia’s integrated project team and partners Boeing Defence Australia, PAC Group and Plasan – Thales’s exclusive Australian partner for LAND 121 Phase 4 and a provider of combat-proven armour solutions.