Melbourne based family manufacturer, Marand, has partnered with BAE Systems to build highly armoured reconnaissance vehicles for the Army, according to The Australian.
The Department of Defence (DoD) will spend a year testing prototype vehicle contenders, including the Marand/BAE contribution, to ensure they can survive on modern battlefields. DoD is upgrading its current “soft-skinned” Land Rovers and armoured troop carriers, which cannot survive improvised explosive devices (IED) bomb attacks.
Marand chief executive officer, Rohan Stocker, said that the collaboration was a “message of hope” to other automotive workers that could they successfully move into other industries.
“BAE Systems is a great partner. It has delivered on its industrial commitments and transferred technology which has allowed us to create high skilled jobs and defence exports,” Stocker said.
“We have already proven that we can deliver complex defence production technology transfers in Australia with 100 per-cent quality and delivery performance.”
BAE Systems Australia chief executive Glynn Phillips said he was delighted that Marand would bring to the program production engineering expertise gained from the automotive, aerospace, rail and defence sectors to the collaboration.
BAE Systems worked with Marand on its transition from the automotive industries to defence manufacturing through collaboration on the global F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. It also provides Marand with titanium parts that are used to manufacture F-35 vertical tailfins in Australia for export to the US.