NZ LAVs - best vehicles for their mission

The NZ Defence Force has deployed Light Armoured Vehicles (LAVs) to Bamyan Province in Afghanistan to support the Provincial Reconstruction Team.

“The vehicles bring us the capability we need to keep our personnel safer and operate more effectively in the north eastern area of Bamyan where the security threat is higher,” Commander of Joint Forces, Air Vice Marshal Peter Stockwell, said.

“While the NZ Provincial Reconstruction Team has been able to successfully provide security
to the province for eight years now, the north east is the most demanding part of our area of operations and requires a higher level of capability,” AVM Stockwell, said.

“This area of the province was where Lieutenant Tim O’Donnell was killed last year, and it is where we have most often come into contact with armed insurgents.”

The LAVs that have been deployed have undergone an upgrade program based on recent
allied developments for the vehicle.

The upgrade affords a higher level of protection that has now enabled its deployment to the mission in Bamyan.

Also, following a successful mobility trial last year in the area and with ongoing  improvements to the main roads in Bamyan, the NZ Defence Force has assessed that the LAV is now the best vehicle to provide the optimum mix of protected mobility, firepower and surveillance to meet the mission requirements.