The Federal government has now opened the request for tender for the LAND 400 Phase 3, the replacement of the Australian Defence Force’s armoured personnel carrier (APC) fleet.
The $10-$15 billion project will see the ADF’s M113 APCs replaced by fleet of up to 450 modern Infantry fighting vehicles and 17 manoeuvre support vehicles.
On Friday, Marise Payne, then defence minister (now foreign affairs minister), said the project would be largest investment ever undertaken to modernise the Australian Army’s close combat capability.
“The vehicles will be equipped with high levels of protection, firepower and mobility that will enable sustained operations, varying from peacekeeping to close combat,” Payne said.
During the tender process, the Department of Defence will work closely with industry to optimise the content provided by Australian industry.
The government’s industry capability plan, initiated in 2016, aims to enable Australian companies to compete on their merits for defence work on a value for money basis.
The recently appointed defence minister Christopher Pyne encouraged Australian small and medium sized enterprises to take advantage of the opportunities opened by the project.
“Just as with the LAND 400 Phase 2 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles, Australian industry involvement and Australian workers will be critically important to this project,” Pyne said.
“[It] is another exciting opportunity for Australian industry to deliver leading edge technology in support of the Army.”
A new Armoured Vehicle Division will be created to consolidate large programs like LAND 400, LAND 907 into a programmatic and coordinated project.
Request for tender submissions for the LAND 400 Phase 3 will close on Friday 1 March 2019.
Opportunities for Industry to participate in the process are outlined in the tender documents and include industry briefing sessions scheduled for September this year.
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