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Australia’s future Geelong-built infantry fighting vehicles will feature multiple weapons and exceptional speed after the federal government selected a South Korean defence company to replace the country’s Vietnam War-era armoured carriers.
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy announced on Thursday that Hanwha Defense Australia had been awarded a contract to build 129 Redback infantry fighting vehicles at its Avalon facility north-east of Geelong in Victoria. The Australian Army’s new vehicles will cost between $5 billion and $7 billion in total.
The Victorian government celebrated the multibillion-dollar Land 400 Phase 3 project contract being awarded within its borders as a boon for the local manufacturing sector that would create hundreds of jobs. The federal government said it is one of the largest capability acquisition projects in the history of the Army.
Jennifer Parker, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s deputy defence program director, said acquiring the vehicles themselves ensured the Australian Defence Force had “the best capability on offer”.
“It’s a pretty large armoured vehicle. One of the things that is quite unique about it is its speed – it’s reported to go up to 65 km/h, which is pretty good,” Parker said.
“It has also got a high degree of armaments. It’s meant to protect against missiles, mines, chemical and biological attacks.”
Offensively, Parker said the Redback had an effective cannon – the same as the Australian Bushmaster that has been sent to Ukraine – that could generally fire artillery well over three kilometres, with a maximum range of seven kilometres. Machine guns are also mounted on the vehicle.
Parker said partnering with South Korean company Hanwha was also significant to improve relations in the Indo-Pacific.
The Australian government said the first Redback will be delivered in 2027 and will replace the country’s M113 armoured personnel carriers, which were acquired in 1964.
A Redback conducts a live fire demonstration during trials at Puckapunyal.Credit: Defence Department
The defence industry minister said the project was in response to Labor’s landmark Defence Strategic Review (DSR) handed down in April, which found the ADF was ill-equipped for modern warfare. The review scaled down the Land 400 project from producing 450 infantry fighting vehicles to 129.
“After two years of very extensive testing and evaluation by Australian soldiers, the Redback was found to be the best option for the Australian Army,” Conroy said on Thursday.
“These state-of-the-art armoured vehicles will come with the latest generation armour, cannon and missiles, providing the protection, mobility and firepower needed by soldiers in close combat.”
Conroy also criticised the former Coalition government, accusing it of failing to deliver on the project before the 2022 federal election.
“We will deliver all 129 vehicles before the former government planned to deliver one,” he said.
Shadow defence minister Andrew Hastie welcomed the announcement, but said it was 10 months overdue. He also criticised the earlier defence review, which he said “cannibalised” the infantry fighting vehicle program, “degrading our land combat power and weakening the Army”.
Hastie called on the government to reveal where the savings from scaling down the program would be reallocated.
“It is disappointing, but not surprising, to see Labor underinvesting in Australia’s defence industry,” he said. “We once again ask that the government improve its engagement with the industry, who have suffered under the DSR and Labor’s May budget.”
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