LAND FORCES: Navantia Australia, Rheinmetall Defence Australia partner on Army amphibious vehicle

Navantia Australia and Rheinmetall Defence Australia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the Australian Army’s next generation amphibious vehicle. The partnership between Navantia Australia, Design Authority for over 110,000 tonnes of the Royal Australian Navy’s major surface fleet, and Rheinmetall, manufacturer of the Australian Army’s fleet of high mobility logistics vehicles and the BOXER 8×8 CRV fleet, will provide the Australian Army with the world’s toughest and most capable amphibious vehicle – designed, built and sustained in Australia by Australians.  “We are excited to collaborate with Rheinmetall on the LAND 8710 Phase 1 CE2 program,” said Alfonso García-Valdés, managing director of Navantia Australia.  Rheinmetall’s successful track record in manufacturing specialist military vehicles for the Australian Defence Force and globally made the partnership a natural one for Navantia Australia. “When we were considering partners for the LAND 8710 program, Rheinmetall was the obvious choice,” said García-Valdés. “Their land based expertise married with our in-depth maritime experience, will bring the best of Australia’s engineers together to develop this new capability for Australia.”  The MoU, signed at Land Forces Conference 2021, will see Navantia Australia and Rheinmetall collaborate on developing a fast, formidable and future-proof amphibious vehicle design.  “We look forward to working alongside Navantia Australia to develop an amphibious logistics capability that will meet the requirements of the Australian Defence Force and has export potential,” said Gary Stewart, managing director of Rheinmetall Defence Australia. “Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Australia has delivered more than 2500 high mobility logistics vehicles to the ADF through LAND 1213B/5B and this ensures we have a world-leading vehicle to meet and exceed the requirements of LAND 8710 Phase 1 CE2.” For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Kym Bergmann at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Director of Sales Graham Joss at [email protected]