Bushmaster 'Ute'

[riksavage]

Janes 4th Feb reports: THALES have announced they plan to build a base standard Bushmaster commencing June 2009 at Bendigo for the world market. Currently they are in discussions with 14 countries. The base standard will be easily configurable to either left or right hand drive. Janes also confirmed that the Netherlands now operates 59, whilst the UK is operating 24. The Bushmaster is also still in the running for the UK MRAP-ATV logistics vehicle.

Hopefully in 2009 we will see more success and increased sales. Once the 736orders for the Australian Army finishes THALES will need to ensure continued sales or be forced to depend on upgrades / combat loss replacement orders.

 

[Blastmaster]

The Bushmaster was designed for both left hand drive and right hand and "hardware" was built in both these configurations, so a "base standard" vehicle with this "option" is hardly news. Also the orders quoted for the UK and Netherlands are really old news and date back to old orders.

With the war in Iraq now starting to wind down (and Australia already having withdrawn it combat forces) and with the heavy and lumbering MRAP type vehicles having fallen out of favour in Afghanistan for well documented reasons to be largely replaced with more compact and manoeuvrable vehicles it would be interesting to know where the new markets for this "new" Bushmaster will be likely to come from.

 

[gf0012-aust]

it would be interesting to know where the new markets for this "new" Bushmaster will be likely to come from.

I attended a DFAT and SAGOV briefing a while back and there was a view that an ex Warpac country might buy 250 for their "gendarmes" (or equiv)

 

[Blastmaster]

DFAT and SAGOV briefing? Hmmmmmmmm..............................Now which other military export contacts did they actually successfully facilitate - my memory is a bit hazy on this and please dont quote me the Netherlands and UK MoD orders from our partners in Afghanistan in this context.

Well, consider the following in the context of previously trumpetted announcements from Thales wrt its Bendigo vehicle operations:

(1) Major contract from US Army for high speed tractors worth $1.5bn confidently predicted at the time.........
(2) Major contract for Bushmasters to the US Forces worth over $1bn to be announced within days in 2007..........
(3) Contract for Bushmasters expected imminently from Belgium some 2 years or more ago..........
(4) Contract for Bushmaster Copperhead UTE for UK MoD confidently predicted in 2007......
(5) Contract for Bushmasters expected from Thailand a year or two ago....

Did I perhaps miss the formal announcements of the actual contract signatures of any of the above?

 

[gf0012-aust]

DFAT and SAGOV briefing? Hmmmmmmmm.............................

This was Fed/State Govt to Int'l Govt agencies only - no sales people allowed, no company reps present.

To be fair (and I don't work for Thales), there were a few poms at LWC last year who were praising the the Bushy enthusiastically and who did think that it was still in with a shot. (Its nickname is "the Smashmaster" - because it will smash through anything...)

 

[blueorchid]

The Bushmaster was designed for both left hand drive and right hand and "hardware" was built in both these configurations, so a "base standard" vehicle with this "option" is hardly news. Also the orders quoted for the UK and Netherlands are really old news and date back to old orders.

With the war in Iraq now starting to wind down (and Australia already having withdrawn it combat forces) and with the heavy and lumbering MRAP type vehicles having fallen out of favour in Afghanistan for well documented reasons to be largely replaced with more compact and manoeuvrable vehicles it would be interesting to know where the new markets for this "new" Bushmaster will be likely to come from.

I hope that you do not rate the Bushmaster as a Heavy and lumbering MRAP type vehicle. The bushie spends a lot of time off road in Afghanistan and has very good mobility for the conditions in that area, unlike heavy MRAP types