"As a result of the trial, Thales' Bushmaster Utility, MAN Military Vehicle Systems Australia's HX vehicle series and Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific's Zetros and Actros vehicle series have been identified by Defence as the contenders to proceed to the next stage," Combet said.
The trials were conducted under stage one of the Land 121 Medium Heavy Capability tender refreshment process last year.
The Government ordered the tender to be refreshed when new requirements became apparent due to the changing strategic environment, ie armour to protect from
IEDs.
"Given the previous problems that have been experienced in this project, the Government is fundamentally seeking a Military-Off-The-Shelf solution which will be subject only to minimal changes necessary to address safety and legislative requirements," Combet said.
"This has been a problem project and we still have a way to go.
"However, the Government is determined to ensure that we get this project back on track so we can get the trucks our troops need to do their job."
But ADM understood that the downselect from the four contenders was to be down to two players, rather than three.
It seems that ‘less is more' is not an axiom that Defence follows.
Either that, or basic counting is an issue...