• Army has so far received 42 of the M113s to be upgraded.
    Army has so far received 42 of the M113s to be upgraded.
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The latest report by the Australian National Audit Office on the M113 Upgrade Project continues the litany of setbacks and delays to what is turning out to be a very costly - and to some - an entirely inappropriate program.

Released last week, the audit was designed to assess progress with the M113 upgrade against schedule, cost and performance objectives as well as progress with the implementation of the previous audit's recommendations.

At present, some 431 upgraded M113s are on order for delivery by the end of 2011 under Land 106.

The initial purchase in July 2002 of 350 upgraded vehicles for delivery by December 2010 was extended in December 2008 to include an additional 81 upgraded M113s acquired as part of the Enhanced Land Force initiative.

Total anticipated expenditure is estimated by the audit at some $1 billion.

This includes approved budget of $648 million for the first 350 vehicles, $241 million for the additional 81 vehicles, together with the additional costs of preparing and extending the vehicle hulls prior to upgrade, as well as costs of Defence project staff.

According to the audit, Army has so far received 42 of the vehicles to be upgraded.

Of these, 16 are in service with 7 RAR, five are awaiting issue to units and the remaining 21 are allocated primarily to driver and crew training units.

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