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Victoria has reportedly awarded a multibillion-dollar defence contract to South Korean company Hanwha to develop a fleet of state-of-the-art infantry fighting vehicles at a manufacturing plant in Geelong.
Hanwha has outbid German company Rheinmetall to manufacture more than 100 of its next-generation Redback vehicles at its $170 million Geelong facility.
South Korean company Hanwha’s Redback (left) with Rheinmetall’s Lynx KF41.
The Redback vehicles have been developed specifically for the Australian Defence Force to replace its aged Vietnam War-era armoured vehicles.
The contract, worth around $10 billion, is part of the Land 400 Phase 3 project, which was recently reduced under Labor’s Defence Strategic Review.
Former Andrews government minister Martin Pakula congratulated the Victorian Defence Industry Advisory Council on its role in securing the winning contract for the state.
“Amazing news for Geelong, for Hanwha, for the ADF, for jobs and for all the people in the DJPR [Victorian Defence Industry Advisory Council] who worked so hard on this,” Pakula wrote on Twitter.
The announcement comes as Australian and US defence officials meet to discuss ways to strengthen security cooperation in Brisbane for the 33rd Australian-United States Ministerial Consultations.
More to come.
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