Melbourne, Australia, 14 Dec, 2012, Supacat has delivered a prototype of its new special operations vehicle to the Australian Defence Force, on time and on budget.

Supacat, partnering with a team of Australian companies, was selected in April 2012 as preferred bidder to provide a prototype vehicle for the Special Operations Vehicle element of the Australian Defence Material Organisation (DMO)’s JP2097 Ph 1B (REDFIN) program.

“With our partners and Elbit Systems of Australia, we are delighted to have delivered this initial phase of the REDFIN 1B program. We have worked closely with the customer and our joint commitment has enabled us to achieve this on time and to budget,” Michael Halloran, Managing Director of Supacat Pty Ltd said.

The vehicle is the latest version of Supacat’s Special Forces HMT Extenda. The new vehicle retains a high level of commonality with the Australian Army’s existing Nary HMT fleet, delivered by Supacat in 2009, but provides improved capabilities, particularly in crew protection and vehicle versatility.

“Supacat’s REDFIN 1B solution offers capability improvements in the key areas of firepower, protection, capacity, operability and safety, based upon direct feedback from the worldwide operational use of existing HMT fleets. There are also a number of additional options offered that the ADF may wish to choose,” Mr Halloran said.

The DMO will use the prototype during the evaluation phase in support of the options that will be provided to Government at second pass.

Nick Ames, Managing Director of Supacat Ltd, said,

“The completion of this key milestone in the REDFIN 1B program for the DMO is an important achievement by everyone at Supacat. Our investment in creating an in-country design and engineering capability and strong supply chain partnership will continue to be key to the success of the program and to future opportunities for our products in the wider Asia Pacific market”.

Supacat’s HMT series is the most capable vehicle in its class and is the vehicle of choice for the elite land forces of the world’s most active and influential armies.  It combines high levels of mobility, protection, payload and firepower. Designed for use by Special Forces, the HMT Extenda is unique in being convertible to either a 4×4 or 6×6 configuration to meet different operational requirements by inserting or removing a self-contained third axle unit. Like other HMT series platforms, the HMT Extenda can be supplied with optional mine blast and ballistic protection kits and with a variety of mission hampers, weapons, communications, ISTAR and force protection equipment to suit a wide range of operational roles.

 

Further information:

Bob Parker, BDM – Defence, Supacat Pty Ltd +61 (0) 418 854 364 or [email protected]

or

Celia Turner, CTPR, +44 (0)7703 344425 or Jamie Clarke, Supacat Ltd, + 44 (0)1404 891777/ +44 (0)7921 973916 [email protected]  

 

Boost to defence industry capabilities with opening of new operation in Victoria
Supacat’s first international facility opened in Australia

Melbourne, Australia, 13 Dec 2012. Victoria’s defence industry capabilities have been boosted with the opening of Supacat’s new facility in Port Melbourne today, by the Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare.

It is the first international operation for Supacat, whose special operations vehicles are used by the Australian Defence Force and other elite land forces around the world.

“Australia is the first country outside the United Kingdom where Supacat provides complete in-country support from prototype design right through to spares and maintenance. It means we can work closely with our customer, the Australian Defence Force (ADF), to ensure the vehicles our soldiers are using are the best and safest possible, for the environments where they are deployed,” the Managing Director of Supacat Pty Ltd, Michael Halloran said.

The Australian Army has used Supacat’s High Mobility Transporter (HMT), a light to medium load carrier, since 2009. Known as the Nary, the HMT was specially designed for off-road use by Special Forces. A prototype of the next generation HMT Extenda will soon be delivered by Supacat[1] to the ADF for evaluation, under JP2097 Phase 1B.

Supacat’s new facility will provide logistics support to the existing Nary fleet as well as supporting the prototype during its evaluation. It is staffed by design, analysis and systems engineering professionals, as well as specialist project management and support personnel.

“The availability of these skills was a key factor in choosing Australia as the place for our first international operation. As the business grows in both Australia and Asia, we expect the growth in these high value jobs will be significant,” Mr Halloran said.

 

[1] Supacat partnered with a team of Australian companies to win the tender to develop the prototype.

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Further information:

 

Australia

Bob Parker, BDM – Defence, Supacat Pty Ltd +61 (0) 418 854 364 or [email protected] or Megan Burges +61 (0) 417 535 510 or [email protected]

Global

Celia Turner, CTPR, +44 (0)7703 344425 or Jamie Clarke, Supacat Ltd, + 44 (0)1404 891777/ +44 (0)7921 973916 [email protected]