Australia seeks industry input on infantry fighting vehicle project

Jon Grevatt

Key Points

• Australian DoD seeks industry advice on tender timeline for Land 400 Phase 3 procurement project
• Industry feedback intended to support better planning and to reduce the cost of tendering

The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) is looking to engage with local industry on the schedule to issue a tender in support of a multi-billion dollar programme to procure close combat capability under Project Land 400 Phase 3.

The DoD said on 20 June that it is inviting local companies to review and comment on the timeline for project through which it will replace the Australian Army's M113AS4 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) with up to 450 modern infantry fighting vehicles and 17 manoeuvre support vehicles. A draft request for tender (RFT) document for the programme has also been issued as part of the engagement.

According to the DoD's 2016 Integrated Investment Program, which identifies defence investments in the decade to 2026, the Land 400 Phase 3 acquisition is worth between AUD10-AUD15 billion (USD7.4-USD11 billion). The DoD issued a request for information (RFI) for the project in November 2015, while government gave ‘first pass' or preliminary approval for the procurement in March 2018.

Commenting on the decision to seek industry's advice on the tender schedule, Australia's Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne said that it would lead to a better informed tender process and reduce the cost of tendering for local industry.

“The proposed tender timeline identifies key milestones in the tender evaluation,” said Pyne. “We welcome industry's feedback on the timeline to better enable both industry and [the DoD] to plan for this significant boost to capability.”

The DoD indicated that the move to seek industry advice on the Land 400 Phase 3 tender timeline was requested by local companies during the programme to acquire more than 200 combat reconnaissance vehicles under Land 400 Phase 2.

http://www.janes.com/article/81187/australia-seeks-industry-input-on-infantry-fighting-vehicle-project