THALES Australia will send 43 new bushmasters to New Zealand to help replace the country's ageing defence force trucks.
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The company's Bendigo factory will build 43 of the heavily armoured vehicles under an A$75 million contract.
"This order is a tribute to the skills and expertise in Thales's Protected Vehicle Centre of Excellence in Bendigo and in the Australian industry that are our critical partners in manufacturing this world class vehicle," Thales said in a statement.
More than 50 Australian companies are part of the supply chain for Bushmaster parts.
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Bushmasters were developed for the Australian Defence Force and have been successfully deployed on peace keeping missions and to active war zones including Afghanistan.
The ADF considers them vital to operations and highlighted their role in a more muscular plan for the military's role in the region.
"While the long-term impacts of the coronavirus pandemic are not yet clear, it has deeply altered the economic trajectory of the region and the world with implications for Australia's prosperity and security," the ADF said.
The wide-ranging plan includes a push to keep building Bushmaster troop movers and developing and testing smaller Hawkeis.
New Zealand's elite Special Operations Forces already has a small fleet of Bushmasters.
Thales has also exported the vehicles to countries including the Netherlands, Fiji, Japan, Jamaica, Indonesia and the UK.
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