Land Warfare: The life and times of Land 121 Overlander | ADM Nov 2010
Project Overlander Land 121 has seen some ups and downs during its lifetime.
Phase 2 is on track, Phase 3 is on the Defence Minister’s Projects of Concern list and Phase 4 will be a closely run competition between the US developmental program, the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) and a locally manufactured and supported (MSA) option from Australia.
But what events have led us to this point?
Here is a project timeline to help readers get some perspective on the project.
Compiled by Katherine Ziesing | Canberra
August 2003:
Invitation to Register (ITR) announced.
June 2004:
First pass approval by Government.
March 2005:
Nine potential tenderers short-listed.
December 2005:
Minister for Defence Senator Robert Hill announces the release of three separate Requests for Tender (RFT).
As part of the initial project phase, a range of vehicles will be purchased for Army’s high readiness units, such as 3 Brigade, 5 Aviation Regiment, 10 Force Support Battalion located in Townsville and Sydney a well as RAAF units at Amberley.
Mid-2006:
Tenders closed and tender evaluation began.
June 2006:
Australia’s Defence Capability Plan released, in which it stated that Land 121 Year of Decision was 2006/07.
August 2007:
Minister for Defence Brendan Nelson announces that Australia will buy at least 250 more Bushmaster vehicles.
August/September 2007:
Phase 3 Second pass approved by Government.
October 2007:
An Australian DoD release highlights the role of local Australian firm G.H. Varley Pty Ltd.
Subject to satisfactory contract arrangements, the Newcastle firm is a key subcontractor for specialist modules that would fit to the G-Wagon fleet (potential value $40 million) and Australia’s medium and heavy weight vehicles (potential value $100 million).
Specialist modules are removable kits attached to vehicles for special tasks, including casualty evacuation, personnel carriage, communications, computer services, cargo distribution and reconnaissance.
October 2007:
Minister for Defence Dr. Brendan Nelson announces that subject to successful negotiations, the preferred Project Overlander Phase 3 tenders are Haulmark Trailers Australia (for trailers), Daimler Chrysler Australia/Pacific (for unprotected lightweight and light vehicles) and BAE Systems Australia/ Stewart & Stevenson (for medium and heavy vehicles).
The project includes small 4-wheel drive vehicles, medium and heavy trucks, and large semi-trailer style vehicles to replace the existing fleet acquired between 1959 – 1994.
These vehicles will be capable of carrying enhanced protection kits, but as experiences with American Hummers, British Land Rovers, and Daimler-Chrysler GelandWagons (G-Wagon) in several NATO forces have proven, there is no substitute for vehicles designed from the outset to be blast-resistant.
Which is why there’s also a 4th winner – the government’s recent buy of at least 250 Bushmaster blast-resistant vehicles from Thales Australia will fall under the Overlander umbrella.
Many specialist vehicle modules, trailers, and all the Bushmasters will be produced in Australia.
This Australian portion is worth approximately $800 million.
August 2008:
Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon announces that Project Overlander will be re-tendered, after BAE proved unable to meet its contractual commitments.
The exact shortfalls were not stated or reported, but cancellation is likely to cost $30 million, and estimates place the final project cost of the re-tender at around $300 million.
As one might expect, the cancellation has become a political football.
The new Labor Party government is accusing the previous Liberal Party government of rushing the process without allowing sufficient time for testing.
Australia’s Liberal Party points at the project’s timeline, and says that any problems are a combination of the new government’s failure to prevent continual specifications changes, and a contractor’s inability to deliver on promises it made.
The Overlander Program office has initiated consultation with the five companies involved in the medium heavy segment tender, and intends to initiate a revised tender process for that segment in November 2008.
Thales Australia, whose Bendigo facility manufacturers Bushmaster vehicles and other trucks, had partnered with America’s Oshkosh; this renewed competition offers them an important second opportunity.
October 2008:
Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon announces a contract for another 293 Bushmaster mine-resistant vehicles, to meet Protected Mobility Medium requirements for Land 121 Project Overlander Phase 3.
This finalizes the orders announced in August and October 2007, and brings the ADF Bushmaster fleet to 737 vehicles.
October 2008:
Minister for Defence Joel Fitzgibbon witnesses the signing of a $350 million contract with Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific to supply 1,200 G-Wagon trucks to the ADF, following four months of extensive testing.
This order finalises the October 5, 2007 decision that identified them as the preferred bidder, “subject to successful negotiations”.
These vehicles will be the first to be delivered under the Land 121 project, which will buy six different types of G-Wagon.
Planned variants include a 4×4 general purpose station wagon, a pair of 4×4 cargo variants, a 6×6 cab chassis variant, a 6×6 dual cab truck, and a specialist 6×6 surveillance and reconnaissance vehicle.
The parties have also signed a 30-year strategic agreement, and a service/parts/support contract which will run for an initial 15 years, with an option for an extension.
Deliveries were scheduled to begin in 2009, and continue through 2014.
The military-specification G-Class vehicles will be built in a dedicated factory in Graz, Austria in both a 4X4 (for the lightweight component of the tender) and a 6X6 configuration (for the light component).
The new military vehicles will also feature detachable unit-specific modules from Varley in Newcastle, New South Wales.
They will be designed for tasks including munitions transfer, field ambulances and troop carriers.
There are currently more than 2,000 examples of Mercedes-Benz vehicles in service with the ADF including the Actros 8×8 heavy duty transport vehicles for the Royal Australian Air Force, the Unimog medium recovery vehicle, and Unimog medium cargo vehicle.
October 2008:
Minister for Defence Joel Fitzgibbon announces that the Government has given First Pass approval to Phase 4 of the Land 121 project, which will replace some of the Australian Defence Force’s 4,200 Land Rovers with a fleet of protected light mobility vehicles.
As part of their plan to examine all of their options, Australia has decided to participate in the technology demonstration phase of the United States’ Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) Program, which aims to replace its Hummers with better-protected vehicles in the 14,000 – 20,000 pound range.
This is not a total commitment to the JLTV program’s three contenders, however; Australia will also engage with industry to explore other options.
Jun 2009:
Manufactured Support in Australia (MSA) RFP released.
July 2009:
Oshkosh Defense and Thales Australia team up to submit seven vehicles to the Australian Department of Defence for Phase 3 Medium/Heavy Capability segment Comparative Evaluation Testing, which could involve up to 2,400 Military Off The Shelf (MOTS) trucks. Comparative testing is expected to be conducted through October 2009.
Oshkosh Defense is submitting five variants based on its U.S. Marine Corps MTVR, alongside two Thales Bushmaster Single Cab variants of their blast-resistant patrol vehicle.
September 2009:
MSA RFP closed.
September 2009:
Thales Australia unveils its 4×4, 7-tonne “Hawkei” vehicle as a candidate for Overlander’s PMV-L phase, which is currently informed by Australia’s participation in the American JLTV program.
The vehicle was developed in the same Bendigo facility that developed the Bushmaster.
A November 2009 release from the company claims that selecting the Hawkei for PMV-L would generate 700 jobs in Australia – but some may simply be retained jobs at Thales, since Bushmaster production is forecast to peak in 2010-11, and then decline.
October 2009:
Australia has given notice that it will continue its JLTV program participation into the next phase.
The three Technical Development Phase vehicle teams are about one third of the way through the existing phase, with Preliminary Design Reviews done and Critical Design Reviews coming up over the next two months.
October 2009:
Oshkosh announces that it will be submitting its M-ATV and Sandcat vehicles for Australia’s PMV-L component of Overlander.
Their partners in these two proposals are Plasan SASA, Ltd, who supplies the armoring solutions for both vehicles and developed the Sandcat/Caracal; and local Oshkosh division JLG Australia, who will assist in manufacturing the vehicles and handle through-life support.
November 2009:
The first prototype Mercedes Benz G-Wagon vehicles have been handed over to DMO team at a ceremony conducted in Graz, Austria.
The prototype G-Wagon vehicles will now be subjected to a quality assurance, verification and validation testing regime.
Testing is scheduled to be complete by late August 2010, with first delivery for operational use scheduled for 2011.
February 2010:
The government announces next-stage finalists for Australia’s medium and heavy trucks under Phase 3.
As part of the medium and heavy trucks re-compete, Australia’s trials tested 24 vehicles in 5 vehicle categories, employing over 64 Army test drivers and putting the trucks through comprehensive field-testing, on both public roads and military training areas, over a six month period.
The order could involve up to 2,400 trucks and trailers.
The trucks going on to the next stage do not include BAE System’s FMTV vehicles; BAE just lost a contested re-compete to produce these vehicles for the US Army.
Nor will they include Thales partner Oshkosh’s MTVRs, which equip the US Marine Corps.
Instead, the finalists will include:
Thales’ Bushmaster Utility, which replaces personnel carrying with 5,000 kg of load-carrying capacity to its mine-resistant vehicles.
MAN Military Vehicle Systems Australia’s HX vehicle series, which has been selected by Britain; and
Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific’s Actros and all-terrain Zetros vehicle series.
February 2010:
Australia’s government announces delivery of the first 11 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon vehicles, out of the order for 1,200 vehicles to replace the Army’s Land Rovers.
The G Wagon vehicles being delivered include 4-wheel drive station wagons; cab-chassis units; and 6-wheel drive vehicles, in both single and dual cab-chassis configuration.
The will be powered with a Mercedes-Benz 3.0 litre turbo-diesel V6 engine that will be Euro 5 emissions compliant.
These first G Wagons will undergo compliance and accepting testing during 2010.
Full production of the ADF’s G Wagon vehicles will commence in Austria later in 2010, with deliveries to commence in 2011.
Specific models of the G-Wagon will be fitted with specialist modules (for example Ambulance and Command Posts), built by G.H. Varley Pty Ltd of Newcastle.
April 2010:
Haulmark Trailers in Brisbane, Australia, received a $70 million contract to supply 973 lightweight and light trailers to the Australian Defence Force as part of the Land 121 (Overlander) project.
The trailers are designed to operate with the G-Wagon vehicles being supplied by Mercedes Benz Australia/Pacific.
The trailers will be delivered from April 2012 to February 2015.
May 2010:
Australia’s Overlander Phase 4 will have three new competitors.
Australia’s Minister for Defence Materiel and Science, Greg Combet, announces that Thales Australia, Force Protection Europe, and General Dynamics Land Systems will each receive six-month contracts worth up to $9 million each, in order to develop “Protected Mobility Vehicle” prototypes.
Those prototypes would compete against any winners from the American/Australian JLTV competition, for a roughly $1 billion, 1,300 vehicle contract.
Force Protection is partnered with England’s Ricardo to develop the modular Ocelot, which has just won the UK’s Light Protected Patrol Vehicle program.
Bushmaster MPV manufacturers Thales Australia have designed a smaller vehicle called the Hawkei.
Their partners include Boeing Defence Australia, PAC Group, and Israeli armour manufacturer and designer Plasan Sasa.
Genreal Dynamics Land Systems has several options, including a lighter variant of their RG-31 with Oshkosh’s TAK-4 suspension upgrade, currently serving with the US military in Afghanistan.
GDLS are also partnered with Humvee manufacturer AMC General for the JLTV competition.
July 2010:
MSA Development contracts signed with each of the contenders.