DTN News: Dutch Order Additional Bushmaster Vehicles

DTN News: Dutch Order Additional Bushmaster Vehicles *Sources: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands - June 21, 2009: In a further boost for Bushmaster exports, the Netherlands Ministry of Defence has ordered 14 new vehicles.The contract will take the total of Bushmasters supplied to the Netherlands to 72. The Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle or Infantry Mobility Vehicle is an Australian-built wheeled armoured vehicle. It was originally designed by Irish company Timoney Technology Ltd under a licence agreement with Perry Engineering in Adelaide; that licence was sold, with permission granted by Timoney as required by the licence terms, to Thales Australia. Once the Bushmaster was selected by the Australian Army after trials in 1998 to meet the Bushranger project requirements, the range of variants was developed further by Thales Australia in Bendigo. Oshkosh Truck has a contract to provide support and would manufacture in the US if there was an American order. The Bushmaster is currently in service with the Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Netherlands Army and British Army. Production work on the new vehicles has already begun, with delivery to the customer to be completed later this year.In a demonstration of the Bushmaster's flexibility, Thales will supply internal modular kits to allow vehicle reconfiguration in theatre. Additional EOS-SRWS stabilized remote weapon stations, which Thales is providing in conjunction with Australian-based EOS Ltd., are also part of the order. "This order is yet a further confirmation of the Bushmaster's suitability for a variety of tasks, and as a platform for different systems to suit every user's specific requirements," said Ian Irving, Vice President of Land & Joint Systems at Thales Australia. "The Bushmaster has been very successful on deployment with Dutch forces, and we have an ongoing close working relationship with the Netherlands Ministry of Defence. Through life support for this contract will take place at Thales's local industrial presence in the Netherlands." "Our highly skilled workforce in Bendigo, Victoria, are Australia's leaders in delivering protected mobility solutions, with unrivalled local expertise along every stage of the process - from design and manufacturing to systems integration and through life support."