Australian Army Discussions and Updates

[SamB]

Bushmaster 5.0
Payload - 3,600kg
Interior - Fixed (Discrete Hard points)
Armour - Options of External composite armour
Towing - Recovery Only
Fuel Tank - Protected Internal / Unprotected External
Access / Egress / Hatches - Standard Rear Door + Roof Hatches
Braking - Pneumatic Vented Disc
Water Crossing - 1.2m

Bushmaster 5.6
Payload - 5,400kg
Interior - Flexible (Cabin rail)
Armour - Scalable external options for multiple threat levels
Towing - 15,000kg Towing / Recovery
Fuel Tank - Protected Internal / Protected External (Self sealing?)
Access / Egress / Hatches - Front Doors + Larger Rear Door + Roof Hatches
Braking - Pneumatic Vented Disc ABS / EBD
Water Crossing - 1.5m

pics - 7 news

Weird 4 door variant with space for cargo.

I'm sure export variants would come with a whole family of variants or a couple of VLS tubes, perhaps.

 

[Murse]

The Grizzly pod could be a handy addition to those empty cargo trays. They also state "low cost" but we have a habit of changing that
We could pivot to APKWS as well as mentioned in the comments of the attached article.

 

[MARKMILES77]

Bushmaster 5.0
Payload - 3,600kg
Interior - Fixed (Discrete Hard points)
Armour - Options of External composite armour
Towing - Recovery Only
Fuel Tank - Protected Internal / Unprotected External
Access / Egress / Hatches - Standard Rear Door + Roof Hatches
Braking - Pneumatic Vented Disc
Water Crossing - 1.2m

Bushmaster 5.6
Payload - 5,400kg
Interior - Flexible (Cabin rail)
Armour - Scalable external options for multiple threat levels
Towing - 15,000kg Towing / Recovery
Fuel Tank - Protected Internal / Protected External (Self sealing?)
Access / Egress / Hatches - Front Doors + Larger Rear Door + Roof Hatches
Braking - Pneumatic Vented Disc ABS / EBD
Water Crossing - 1.5m

pics - 7 news

Weird 4 door variant with space for cargo.

Looks like the MR6, with the front windows of the Hawkei.

 

[SammyC]

Government commits to $2.3 billion doubling of Army long-range strike fleet

so, a second regiment of HIMARS it is.

 

[ADMk2]

So yesterday was appeasing Thales, today Lockheed Martin…

 

[Reptilia]

So yesterday was appeasing Thales, today Lockheed Martin…

and Rheinmetall.

 

[SamB]

Perhaps it's a tax that we all have to pay in order to play. It would be nice if the world stayed safe and gave everyone time to think and quibble over every detail in great depth. But the rapid integration of low cost high-tech manufacturing offers no such comfort. What happens when fishing fleets show up with drone footage of there own. Are you going to be the ones who confiscate mobile phones in my international waters. Maritime surveillance used to be only available to state actors, no longer.

 

[ADMk2]

and Rheinmetall.

I’d rather they were appeased Rheinmetall by providing a Cavalry Regiment’s worth of vehicles to 1 Brigade, which at present is the only brigade in 1DIV that doesn’t have it’s own Cav…

I get the focussed force concept, I’m not sure it’s where we want to be though when it delivers the reality that one of our 3 brigade commanders is afforded no recon, screening, escort or direct fire assets of their own to employ…

 

[Takao]

Or Bushmaster replacement, which is a program

There is meant to be a project that progressively upgrades Bushmaster. Its.... well, nonetheless, there is meant to be a project. It doesn't make sense though, it costs a lot to bring an old car mostly up to modern specs, and you can't really do anything that might be structural (new armour for instance).

Having a constant production line works for mobilisation reasons, it keeps the latest versions in the units (with various OEMs building demonstrating workpackages that the ADF can pick from (a'la the IBTN)), and it gives a bunch of perfectly acceptable vehicles each year for DFAT to donate as they see fit. Rip the ADF comms out of those cars, add in the Australian designed and built comms system that we have successfully exported and you keep two industries going. All for less that the current project.

It would be foolish in the extreme to focus on continuous shipbuilding and continuous munitions production but not also continuous land vehicle production.

There's not a coherent strategy around this (at least not a public one I have seen) but I expect the Government has at least enough sense to keep the various production lines hot.

There was a quite mature continuous land build program (all B- and A-vehicles minus MBT) built in 2020. It was held back in favour of maturing the ship building program. That was dusted off in 2025 and updated; but I don't know if it ended up being accepted and rolled out.

But a continuous build of everything makes sense and allows the production of (a) variants (that may be more politically acceptable to the government that slashed numbers in the first place) like an ambulance (note we have no ambulance that can recover casualties from a battlefield...), mortar or C2; and (b) the numbers to make an actual Bde / Div. It also (for the reasons listed in Bushmaster above) makes financial and tactical sense.

I would be very surprised if the ADF has enough equipment to deploy the entire 1st Division simultaneously let alone fill out the To&E for 2nd Division.

Not in the slightest. The maths are buried here, but from memory we've ~50% the tanks and ~20% the IFVs we need.

If the Government wanted to fund the Army properly, 1st Division would be a trio of identically equiped Armoured (Heavy) or even Mechanised (Medium) brigades each with full supporting elements, plus independent Battalions or even Companies to maintain individual capabilities that may need to be expanded at some point. You can always strip equipment from a Heavy or Medium Brigade to make a Light Brigade, its a bit harder to turn a Light Infantry brigade into a Heavy Brigade when you don't have the equipment. Light infantry is definately cheaper though.....

2nd Division *should* have all the supporting elements and equipement in place to stand up 5-7 Identically equiped Motorised Infantry Brigades, even if some of the units are at Cadre strength and need to be filled out by calling up standby reserves.

Yes. Nothing more needs to be said.

And you need a Div to meet the NDS.....regardless of the recovered Air/Land Gap of the 1980s that we have now

Is there anywhere on a Bushmaster to fit an APU?

Yup. Last I was in a Regt (looks back; gosh I'm old....) all the C2 variants had a APU and about half my troop carrying variants.

Pretty neat actually. Worked really well.

Government commits to $2.3 billion doubling of Army long-range strike fleet

so, a second regiment of HIMARS it is.

Thank goodness. The Strikemaster was an abysmal attempt to answer the need - and failed to do so

I’d rather they were appeased Rheinmetall by providing a Cavalry Regiment’s worth of vehicles to 1 Brigade, which at present is the only brigade in 1DIV that doesn’t have it’s own Cav…

Fixed it for you....

Look, I know they are coming. But at this point I just want what we ordered.....

I get the focussed force concept, I’m not sure it’s where we want to be though when it delivers the reality that one of our 3 brigade commanders is afforded no recon, screening, escort or direct fire assets of their own to employ…

The boats ADMk2! The boats! It's a littoral capability, so don't need that stuff (excuse me while I go puke......)

 

[SamB]

OCR rate = 4.10%. If the GOTD mismanages budget increases and there are big whole percentage points to go in. Then The Government will blow past the reserve banks 4.35% forcast, turning procurement into a self-fulfilling spiral of doom. Labour has form on this; there is going to be a little bit from here and a little bit over there, but it's not just defence, high technology and high energy demand industry that need tiered rate hikes and automation, because if the government dumps north of ten billion into the budget without setting up a supply chain first, energy costs will struggle to meet the original cost estimates. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have to be turned into tech hubs, SEA 3000 accelerated as a matter of urgency, along with AUKAS. some big moves lads, good luck.

 

[K.I.]

sounds like the rws mounted in its natural position and a new secondary mount at the back for a laser -probably lightweight fractl. Power pack might be fixed to the back of the truck?

-Sky News AUS
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said the order would see Thales begin production on a “next generation Bushmaster” that would give the ADF the “best capability in the world”.

Asked what the new Bushmasters would have that the current ones do not, Mr Conroy said the plan was to "mount lasers on these vehicles to destroy drones".

“What you're seeing with modern warfare is everything needs more power, more computing. So the next generation will have more power," he said.

“It will also have modifications at the back, which means you can swap in and out modules more effectively.

"Because one thing we'll be fitting onto these is remote weapon stations to deal with drones; including directed energy weapons - lasers, for want of a better word.

"And obviously you need plenty of juice to do that."


-Thales
Capability enhancements include improved protection and mobility, advanced digital systems, and increased adaptability to meet the evolving needs of defence operations including:

• Increased capacity for carrying personnel and increased tow capacity
• Stronger additional armour
• Ability to carry more powerful weapons systems, including roof mounted effectors
• Opportunity to integrate a wide range of sensors and effectors to efficiently defeat threats
• A fully modular crew cabin allowing for versatile configurations based on user needs
• Designed for export with left-hand drive capability and next-gen comms interfaces.

This announcement bolsters Australia’s industrial capacity, to design, build and sustain key defence assets, while ensuring a robust supply chain. Production of the next generation Bushmaster will start in 2027.

The EOS Apollo system is currently mounted in a 20' ISO container so I think the challenge will be to mount that into the hybrid Bushie under development as the battery will be able to supply full power without needing the diesel running. I doubt there'll be room for a second RWS.
It's good to see real urgency and drive in getting these CuaS capabilities into the field.

 

[Reptilia]

NT Defence Strategy 2026.

Northern Territory Defence Strategy 2026 PDF (7.2 MB).

4 LCM + 2 LCH to be based in Darwin.
Interested to see how SLV Matilda 1 trials go.