US Army buys Bushmasters from Australia

[RubiconNZ]

US Army buys Bushmasters from Australia

Bendigo defence manufacturer Thales Australia is on the brink of securing a deal to build armoured vehicles for the United States Army.

Thales expects to win a deal within days to supply 1,500 Bushmaster armoured personnel carriers to the US.

The deal will be worth several hundred million dollars and some of the vehicles will be built in Bendigo.

The Bushmaster is already used by the Australian Defence Force and the executive director of the Australia Defence Association, Neil James, says the US Army has been impressed with its performance.

"The simple thing about the Bushmaster is it's a proven performer," he said.

"It's performing very well and the ones that have been attacked in Iraq and Afghanistan have done very well."

The US Army's Humvee personnel carrier has seen its relative lack of amrour exposed by roadside bomb attacks in Iraq, with troops in the field improvising extra armour to improve their safety.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/29/1965632.htm


Fantastic news, was this the overseas purchaser you were hinting about a few months ago GF? Either way its great that they chose to have them built here, also keeps the production line if Australia wants to buy more later.

 

[steve33]

Have you got a photo of the Bushmaster by any chance?.

 

[MARKMILES77]

Where is this information from??

 

[Ozzy Blizzard]

Have you got a photo of the Bushmaster by any chance?.

There are a 6 versions:

• Infantry Mobility Vehical (IMV) that can carry a section/squad
• Command Vehical
• Assault Pioneer Vehical
• Mortar Vehical
• Direct fire weapons vehical
• Ambulance vehical

The things even got a water cooling system so the boys can all have a nice cool drink, thats kind of handy when your out in the Northen Terrirory and its 40+ degrees.

Its proved quite effective against IED's as its got much better belly protection than the HUMVEE... could save a few lives if it gets out there fast enough.

 

[RubiconNZ]

Oops my bad link added,
For pictures use
http://www.defence.gov.au or http://www.army-technology.com/projects/bushmaster/

 

[buglerbilly]

Let's hope the rumour proves to be correct.

And this is only a rumour at the moment despite being reported by ABC and various Australian newspapers.

At best only "some" vehicles will come from Bendigo as Oshkosh has always had the intention to open up its own USA production line. Possibly expact up to 48 vehicles to come from Bendigo to allow Oshkosh to ramp their own line.

If the rumour pans out expect a formal Contract in the next week or two.

Regards,

BUG

 

[jacktar]

"Fantastic news, was this the overseas purchaser you were hinting about a few months ago GF? Either way its great that they chose to have them built here, also keeps the production line if Australia wants to buy more later."

Don't expect them to be built here. Only some of the fabrication will be in Australia. The production line will be at Oshkosh Wis. The Oshkosh Truck Corporation website has details on the Bushmaster.

 

[Todjaeger]

While I think it is good that the US gets an IMV (finally! ) I have two concerns about the purchase. From the announcement, some of the vehicles are to be built in Bendigo... So naturally I wonder where the rest will be constructed, as well as just how many out of a 1,500 vehicle order will be built in Bendigo? And on a related note, who/where is getting paid for the Bushmasters? It's an ADI product, but ADI is now a wholely-owned subsidiary of Thales. I can (unfortunately) easily see ADI only getting paid for the Bendigo-built Bushmasters, with Thales getting paid for the non-Bendigo Bushmasters, or at least receiving payments for the intellectual property. Of course, I could just be being cynical about all this...

-Cheers

 

[phreeky]

Yeah from what I've read they'll more or less get built over there, not in Bendigo. Anymore info on this matter of intellectual property and who owns what?

 

[buglerbilly]

Oshkosh doesn't own Thales ADI nor does it own any intellectual rights with regards to the Bushmaster design, not even IF it has to modify it somewhat to suit US Army/USMC needs. It will pay a fee per vehicle or per contract, that's the normal arrangement.

And no I don't know that fer sure and nor does anyone else here or elsewhere. It's VERY strictly a confidential matter beween Oshkosh and Thales.

Now how the workshare aspect is handled is entirely open to discussion BUT even if Oshkosh decides to open a new line they need some time to mobilise it AND they always have will have an option to increase their output by using Bendigo IF they need to, a very win/win scenario for all concerned.

The fact there is an existing Production line allows Oshkosh to deliver more or less immediately the first vehicles. However, one should remember Oshkosh is a MAJOR vehicle manufacturer who has an enormous capacity and an enormous ability to ramp up that capacity to suit urgent needs - expect them to be fully functional within a few months not in a year or so.

 

[jacktar]

whilst the majority of the assembly will be in Oshkosh, what will be interesting is to see how this impacts on lower tier suppliers. A number of the components are currently manufactured in Australia by SMEs, eg. Air Conditioner, Fuel Tanks, Lockers etc.

If alternates aren't sourced in the US, this could still be a good deal for the small guys.

 

[Tasman]

Oshkosh doesn't own Thales ADI nor does it own any intellectual rights with regards to the Bushmaster design, not even IF it has to modify it somewhat to suit US Army/USMC needs. It will pay a fee per vehicle or per contract, that's the normal arrangement.

And no I don't know that fer sure and nor does anyone else here or elsewhere. It's VERY strictly a confidential matter beween Oshkosh and Thales.

Now how the workshare aspect is handled is entirely open to discussion BUT even if Oshkosh decides to open a new line they need some time to mobilise it AND they always have will have an option to increase their output by using Bendigo IF they need to, a very win/win scenario for all concerned.

The fact there is an existing Production line allows Oshkosh to deliver more or less immediately the first vehicles. However, one should remember Oshkosh is a MAJOR vehicle manufacturer who has an enormous capacity and an enormous ability to ramp up that capacity to suit urgent needs - expect them to be fully functional within a few months not in a year or so.

I agree with you Bug that this is a win/win for everyone concerned if it turns out to be true. The fact that the majority of the vehicles will be built in the USA is to be expected but I think the deal will mean a lot to the Australian Defence industry as it demonstrates that it can break into major overseas markets.

Cheers

 

[riksavage]

Orders for MRAP vehicles for the US military are coming through thick and fast. Today the following was confirmed on http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com

Small business qualifier Force Protection Industries, Inc. in Ladson, SC has received a $221.7 million order for additional 395 Cougar 4×4 Category I MRUV patrol vehicles, and 60 Cougar 6×6 Category II JERRV squad vehicles.

And

BAE Systems Land & Armaments Ground Systems Division in York, PA received $212.4 million order for:

271 RG-33 Category I MRUV patrol vehicles;
154 RG-33 variants for US Special Operations Command, out of their total MRAP allotment of 333 vehicles;
16 RG-33L Category II Ambulance variants, the first vehicles in the competition listed specifically for the ambulance role.

No mention of any Bushmaster oeders though!

Question: why ordr both the RG33 and Bushmaster, aren't they basically the same?

 

[Marsh]

The RG-33 is somewhat newer, features an extendable claw arm and is available in 6x6 configuration. SOCOM has chosen this for its own MRAP fleet. As to why the US is buying so many different vehicles I must admit I'm not sure, beyond simply sharing the contracts between suppliers.

The Bushmaster story has surfaced a few times. AFAIK 2 examples have been purchased for testing and Oshkosh is trying hard to convince the USMC and Army but so far no further orders.

 

[falcon2k7]

If it's one problem the US Military has is sometimes looking at home grown solutions instead seeing what our allies are doing and saying "Hey, we'll take a couple hundred of those!". Like the Striker. Canada has some really good wheeled vehicles and I'm sure we can work out some kind of licensing deal.

I wouldn't mind us getting our hands on a few Bushmasters either via Aussie production or through licensing.

 

[icelord]

If it's one problem the US Military has is sometimes looking at home grown solutions instead seeing what our allies are doing and saying "Hey, we'll take a couple hundred of those!". Like the Striker. Canada has some really good wheeled vehicles and I'm sure we can work out some kind of licensing deal.

I wouldn't mind us getting our hands on a few Bushmasters either via Aussie production or through licensing.

I thought they had the Styrker(the Y is "kool") which is based on the Striker, which is based on the MOWAG Piranha III

Even the immediate build of a few Bushmasters here or sale of Production line units destined for ADF would be possible. But on top of the Dutch order which the ADF has done with this deal it might not work out well for us, so scrap that idea.

Could we see the ADF teaching US Army how to operate/repair the bushmasters. And i take it the US went with the full package, with the water cooler and Air-con.

 

[Marsh]

They would be (probably) entirely built by Oskosh, so current Bushmaster orders would have almost no impact.

The Stryker is actually named after two MoH winners, so the spelling is genuine.

 

[swerve]

I thought they had the Styrker(the Y is "kool") which is based on the Striker, which is based on the MOWAG Piranha III.

Stryker is based on the Piranha III, & named as Marsh says - look up Robert F. Stryker. Nothing to do with the words strike or striker, or being "kool".

AFAIK the only AFV called a Striker is the British FV102, the ATGW-carrying member of the CVR(T) (Scorpion, Scimitar, Spartan, etc) family. The FV102 Striker has no connection to the Piranha or Stryker.

 

[Marsh]

USMC just bought another 235 Cougars, so the order seems a little less likely.

Swerve, I thought the Stryker was based on the same chassis as a Piranha III?


Edit: apologies, misread your post

 

[swerve]

...Swerve, I thought the Stryker was based on the same chassis as a Piranha III?

That's what I meant, but I see that I carelessly left it open to misinterpretation when trying to sort out the Stryker/Striker confusion, so I'll go back & edit it for clarity.