French defence manufacturer Thales will build 43 Bushmaster vehicles for the New Zealand Army at its Australian factory in regional Victoria.
The $75 million contract is to deliver five variants of the armoured vehicle by 2022.
A Thales spokesperson said the New Zealand Government had selected a battle-proven and highly mobile vehicle that would bring a new level of capability and operability to the New Zealand Army.
"The New Zealand Special Operations Forces currently operate a small fleet of Bushmaster vehicles," the spokesperson said.
The Bushmaster is built in the regional Victorian city of Bendigo.
The contract will involve more than 50 Australian businesses.
New Zealand Defence Minister Ron Mark said the order would replace the New Zealand Army’s armoured Pinzgauers.
"The age and lack of protection offered by the old fleet make this another investment in New Zealand Defence Force capability that must be made in order to protect our service people," he said.
A total of $102.9 million will be spent by New Zealand to get the new fleet of Bushmasters battle-ready.
Thales Bendigo said the trans-Tasman deal would secure 300 jobs at the plant for at least the next two years, as well as another 200 along the supply chain.
"This order is a tribute to the skills and expertise in Thales' Protected Vehicle Centre of Excellence in Bendigo and in the Australian industry that are our critical partners in manufacturing this world-class vehicle," the Thales spokesperson said.
Standing the test of time — and war
The Bushmaster is an 11-tonne, 4x4 protected vehicle with a four-tonne payload.
The five variants include troop carrier, command, patrol, support, weapons deployment and ambulance.
Christopher Stoltz is a professor of Practice in Engineering at La Trobe University in Bendigo and a former president of Engineers Australia in Victoria.
"Orders like this take a long time to win," he said.
"The lead time is years, not weeks or months."
He said the Bushmaster engineering was a feat because the balance of weight and protection was right.
"You can make a vehicle stronger to resist the IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device) — when they go off, they traditionally blow the vehicle apart," he said.
"So you can protect a vehicle by making it heavier and heavier as IEDs get big and bigger.
"The Bushmaster is a vehicle where they have been able to balance how much weight, how much metal and how much bulletproof glass can be added to give adequate protection, and still have a vehicle you can move around.
"It's still got good mobility.
"The engineers who designed it 20 years ago got it right."
The vehicles carry up to 10 people and are used by six countries.
The New Zealand Government plans to have all 43 Bushmaster vehicles operating by late 2023.
