Positive outlook for Land 121

Considerable progress with the development of FV&T specifications and a possible new and simpler acquisition strategy, with separate tenders sought for the different categories of vehicles, are welcome signs that Land 121 may indeed be on track for the release of an RFT by the end of this year.
After months of uncertainty and doubt about the status of Project Overlander-due largely to Defence Minister Robert Hill's procrastination in naming the shortlisted contenders as he had promised some eight months ago-we now understand that Land 121 is very much on track, with a senior officer, Brigadier David O'Brien, now appointed to head up the Land 121 management team, and it is our understanding that a 'longish' shortlist of successful respondents to last year's ITR will be made public soon.

Assuming that this is the case, industry should then gain a pretty clear idea as to how the project will be progressed.

For those unfortunates not included on the list, the project office will hold debriefing sessions. It may be in this context that the project office has had recourse to legal advice.

We suspect that the reason for the present delay in releasing the shortlist is that there are still issues that need to be resolved before Hill goes ahead. These may include whether more than one prime contractor may be selected to supply and support the range of vehicles and their equipment, and whether a prime integrator will be required to ensure commonality of vehicle equipments and as a basis for an efficient fleet management system.

And we have been assured that project office personnel have not been sitting on their hands during this period. Back in June 2004-about the time the shortlist was originally expected, Codarra Advanced Systems was awarded a $1.6m contract for the provision of professional engineering services to develop Field Vehicle and Trailer Specifications. The professional engineering services have been provided to the Land Engineering Agency in support of Overlander.

Under the contract Codarra has delivered some 35 engineering specifications covering field vehicles, modules and trailers over an eight-month period. These specifications will be used as part of the Phase 3A Request for Tender, due for release by the end of this year. To meet Defence requirements Codarra put together a team of 14 engineers drawn from Codarra's own engineering resources. Additional engineering expertise has been provided by a range of Australian engineering SME's and the Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham, UK.

We understand that additional PSPs have also been recruited to assist in the development of function and performance specifications.

But while we can be upbeat about Overlander's prospects the eight month hiatus which has occurred without any communication to potential contenders has been damaging in the extreme. Not only have respondents to the ITR been on tenterhooks worrying whether they have made the shortlist, they have had difficulty in finalising teaming arrangements whose makeup will depend on what contracting model Defence eventually settles on for this first phase of the largest of all land acquisition projects.

As we have previously noted, the ITR sought industry's views on a broad range of issues including innovative procurement and funding methodologies, broad proposals for through life support and contenders' preferred strategy to provide and support the capability. Defence noted that it was focussing on the development of a long-term strategy for the provision and sustainment of the Field Vehicle & Trailer (FV&T) capability.

It is evident that Defence has yet to decide how this $3 billion project is to be handled and wants to hold one-on-one discussions with the shortlisted candidates in regard to their proposals, teaming arrangements and so on, all of which will help firm up the equipment acquisition strategy (EAS), but the DMO cannot do this until the shortlist has been approved and released.

The current phase (3A) seeks to replace some 700 vehicles and a slightly lesser number of trailers and the expectation is that the prime contractor for this phase will then receive follow-on orders for the rest of the FV&T fleet under Phase 3B. Instead of an implied break of five years or so between delivery of the vehicles under Phase 3A the present plan is for a rolling acquisition with in-service dates of 2008-2010 for 3A and 2011-2013 for 3B.

The provision of logistic support is integral to the delivery of the Field Vehicle & Trailer capability. While the DIDS provider, TenixToll Defence Logistics, will be responsible for single-point delivery of the ADF's warehousing/distribution services and maintenance support for selected Army equipment, it is proposed that an In-Service Support (ISS) contract will be agreed in conjunction with the acquisition contract. The ISS contract will provide support beyond first, second and third line, and is likely to include the supplementation of the logistic support functions provided by the DIDS provider.

The ITR adds that there is potential for the prime contractor, or authorised third parties, to participate in the Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) of the FV&T capability, being responsible for 'train the trainer' training, training aids, technical documentation, supply of repairable items and spare parts on an 'as required' basis.

Defence's plans were to use a prime contractor to manage both production and through life support of the vehicles/capabilities chosen and seeks a solution with the following preferences:

* all vehicles to come from the one manufacturer, or

* the prime contractor to supply a portion of the fleet and sub-contract the acquisition of the remainder from another supplier, or

* a consortium established from a variety of manufacturers.

The Defence Capability Plan reference adds somewhat confusingly that the prime contractor is to be an established vehicle manufacturer supplying a significant proportion of the fleet.

However we now understand that consideration is also being given to seeking separate bids for the supply of vehicles within each size category, eg lightweight and light, medium, and heavy.

Should this eventuate we could then see up to three primes supplying vehicles across the full requirement range although we would assume there would be obvious commonality arguments for acquiring medium and heavy vehicles, for instance, from the one manufacturer where this made cost sense.

The following covers some of the potential contenders for the equipment side of the FV&T capability but it does not identify likely contractors for long term ILS and other support services which may represent a substantial portion of the procurement cost.

ADI has teamed with the US-based Oshkosh Truck Corp with whom it has been associated with the successful sale of its high mobility engineering vehicle (HMEV) to the US Army. ADI has also teamed with Automotive Technik Ltd (ATL). ADI's Engineering & Vehicles Division currently builds the Army's Bushmaster IMV range, fire fighting derivatives, and the HMEV and has significant design and manufacturing capability at Bendigo.

ADI will be offering the full range of vehicle types sought under Overlander. They include Pinzgauer 4x4 and 6x6 light trucks and special forces variants to meet the lightweight and light truck requirements. The UK MoD has introduced a further 400 Pinzgauer vehicles into service while New Zealand has purchased around 320 Pinzgauer vehicles including an armoured variant.

The balance of the Land 121 requirement will be supplied by the Oshkosh range of medium to heavy transporters ranging from the 7t to 15t Medium Tactical Vehicle, the Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (backbone of US Army logistics) and the 8x8 Heavy Equipment Transporter (HET) range.

Another strong contender will be Tenix Defence (Land Division) which has provisionally teamed with the Premier Automotive Group (Land Rover) and DaimlerChrysler Australia, an arrangement that may have to be modified when Defence's preferences for a contracting model are better known.

Tenix has a vehicle production plant at Wingfield in South Australia, where it has designed and developed its own range of S600 armoured personnel carriers, as well as responsibility for armoured vehicle support and rebuild at Bandiana in Victoria. The company also has extensive logistic support capabilities through its links with TenixToll Defence Logistics. It will certainly be among the shortlisted companies to receive the RFT and will offer the full range of vehicles under the Mercedes and Land Rover badges and possibly others, depending on the final RFT.

PAGA will be supplying militarised versions of 4x4 and 6x6 Land Rover Defenders virtually replacing the 4x4 and 6x6 Perenties. These would probably be license-built by Tenix at Wingfield (or possibly in parts of Mitsubishi's Lonsdale plant if SA Premier Mike Rann has his way). DCA would supply the balance of the requirement including enhanced Unimogs to replace the 2,000 1700Ls in service as well as military versions of the ACTROS 8x8, nineteen of which are in service with the RAAF.

The new range of Mercedes Benz S2000 military load carriers feature low profile cabs for C-130 transportability and comprises trucks in the 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8 configurations with 6, 9 and 15 tonne payloads respectively. These vehicles are going into production and according to DCA they will now be available in 2006.

General Dynamics Land Systems should also be a shortlist certainty for Land 121. With production facilities in Adelaide and logistics centres in Darwin and Brisbane, GDLS will bid as prime contractor, offering their Mowag Eagle IV 4x4 which is C-130 air-transportable. The Eagle IV and Duro range of 4x4 and 6x6 trucks that are being offered are based on the Duro chassis with Cummins engine and Allison transmissions. Both groups of vehicles are currently in service with the Swiss Army.

GDLS supplies the Army's ASLAV range of armoured vehicles and recently won an order for LAV IIIs from New Zealand whose turrets are manufactured in Adelaide. GDLS is understood to have provisionally brought GM Holden/Scania into its team to broaden its coverage for the Overlander requirement. Scania military vehicles include 4x4 six to eight-tonne cargo vehicles and a recently developed 8x8 heavy duty off-road vehicle. They also supplied some 80 trucks for non-field service use. GMH may offer 'militarised' (dark green) versions of its Rodeo 4x4 light commercial trucks.

Iveco Australia may team with KBR to offer the range of Iveco military vehicles from 1 to 20 tonnes including the Iveco Light Multirole Vehicle (LMV) a highly capable 4x4 tactical scouting vehicle. Readily armoured against small arms with add-on modular panels, shell fragments and mines, the Iveco LMV is air transportable. The ADF currently uses International S-Line prime movers and Iveco is said to have the largest truck dealer network in Australia.

The HMT (High Mobility Truck) family of vehicles, developed and manufactured in the UK by Supacat Ltd, under licence to HMT Vehicles Ltd, is now entering service with the UK armed forces in 4x4 and 6x6 form, and will shortly enter service with its first export customer. The concept is of a rigid space-frame chassis, with very high mobility engendered by over-sized wheels, high power-to-weight ratio, and long-travel, variable-height suspension.

The axle modules and their suspension and drive-line elements are virtually identical, and thus can be added to the basic 4x4 space-frame to produce 3-axle (6x6) and latterly 4-axle (8x6) combinations. The 6x6 load-bed is flat providing quick role-change for mission packages. The 4x4 can carry up to 3.2 tonnes, and the 6x6 up to 5.5 tones. Two, three and four-crew cabs are available. Protection systems are being developed, and all versions are air-transportable in a C-130. Some versions of the HMT 4x4 can be carried inside a CH-47, or underslung.

HMT says it anticipates a licence agreement to be the best method of making the HMT available in Australia, and the company fully expects a manufacturing and support arrangement will be put in place this year.

MAN-ERF has been awarded the UK MOD Support Fleet contract which consists of more than 5000 cargo and recovery vehicles and will replace the MOD's current tri-service fleet of four, eight and 14 tonne cargo vehicles and recovery trucks. The new equipment will be progressively introduced from 2007 and will have a service life of 20 years with an option to procure several thousand additional vehicles currently under consideration.

It is anticipated that MAN will offer much the same range of trucks for the Land 121 requirement possibly employing the production facilities it has developed in the UK and using their subsidiary Western Star in Queensland for part assembly or compliancing.

Mack Trucks of Brisbane, which has been supplying the Army's heavy transporters will likely put in a segment bid for the heavy end of the requirement. But whether the local company will prime a bid with Ford/Renault/Volvo to offer their range of militarised vehicles remains to be seen.

By Tom Muir, Canberra