CAUGHT IN THE WILD
LAND 400 OFFERING
Photo by Dean McConaghy
Supacat – the new wild beast of Aussie Special Ops, was seen prancing around Perth streets recently, snapped by CONTACT fan Dean McConaghy. Defence awarded a multimillion dollar contract for 89 of the specialised vehicles for Special Ops Command earlier this year. The contract for $141million went to Supacat Ltd to deliver 89 Special Operations Vehicles-Commando (SOV-Cdo) to the Australian Defence Force under the JP2097 Ph 1B (REDFIN) program. SOV-Cdo is based on the latest MK2 version of Supacat’s HMT Extenda and are designed to meet Australian special-force’s specific requirements, including recovery and airlift provisions, weapon and C4 (command and control,
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computers and communications) integration, and equipment load carriage. The vehicles are named ‘Nary’, in honour of Australian Special Forces soldier WO2 David Nary, who died in a training accident in the Middle East in 2005. The vehicles can be reconfigured to suit individual missions, and the communications on board will provide digital connectivity across the ADF as well as with Coalition partners. The contract follows the successful completion of the prototype development and evaluation phase in which Supacat built and delivered the prototype SOV-Cdo. Initial operating capability is scheduled for August 2016.
BAE Systems has offered a highly protected armoured vehicle and combat-proven turret as the solution it says will best meet the Australian Army’s mountedcombat-reconnaissance needs. As prime contractor, the company has teamed with Patria to offer the AMV35 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle (CRV) under Phase 2 of Project LAND 400. The solution combines Patria’s Armoured Modular Vehicle (AMV) and BAE Systems Hägglunds’ E35 turret system. Both are qualified and in service with NATO countries. Patria AMV was selected by seven nations with more than 1400 vehicles contracted. The platform has attained a strong combat reputation, chiefly based on its operational performance with the Polish Army in Afghanistan. LAND 400 aims to enhance the mounted-combat capability of Aussie Army, providing armoured fighting vehicles with improved firepower, protection, mobility and digital communications.
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