Thales has received $38 million to further develop prototype Hawkei Light Protected Mobility Vehicles.

Mr Gibbons said the funding was in addition to the $27 million the Labor Government had already allocated to developing an Australian manufactured PMV-L.

“I find this decision particularly gratifying given the Defence Materiel Organisation told me at a briefing on April 23, 2009 that they didn’t think Thales were capable of building a sophisticated armoured protected vehicle like the PMV-L,” he said.

“So far the Thales Hawkei vehicle... has passed the most stringent test and evaluation process with flying colours.

“There will almost certainly be a second-pass approval process before the contract signing phase and this may result in more federal government funding for final prototype development.

“This funding again reflects the Federal Labor Government’s determination to maintain an Australian defence manufacturing capability and retain and improve the skilled workforce necessary to achieve that objective.”

Mr Gibbons said winning the preferred tender process in December 2011 was the main hurdle for Thales’s Hawkei program and he expected contract negotiations to be completed in late 2014 or early 2015.

“This contract would potentially secure Thales’s Bendigo operation well into the future,” he said.

“Contract negotiations for additional Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles, already providing service in Afghanistan, are being finalised with an announcement in the near future.”