Page 30 - Australian Defence Magazine March 2019

LAND WARFARE
LAND 400
“Tenderers will be evaluated on the proposed value of work to be performed in Australia, and the manner in which this will be achieved.”
The M113 has served the ADF for decades
but will be replaced by a new generation of vehicles.
Roadshow,” Defence said. “The roadshow will allow companies across Australia to showcase potential opportunities to in- crease the work undertaken by SMEs.”
The AIC requirements described in the Phase 3 RFT include the SICPs that are relevant to this phase of the program and Defence says the evaluation process will in- clude an assessment of each bid to achieve the overall AIC requirements as laid out in the document.
“Tenderers will be evaluated on the pro- posed value of work to be performed in Austra- lia, the economic benefit to the economy and the manner in which this will be achieved,” the Defence spokesperson explained.
Contenders
The list of potential bidders for the Phase 3 program at the time of the Land Forces exhi- bition last September (see ‘Land 400 Phase 3 contenders on show’ on P16 of the Octo- ber issue of ADM) included BAE Systems, GDLS-A, Hanwha, Rheinmetall and PSM – a joint venture between Kraus-Maffei We- gmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall Defence.
However, since that time at least one
company has decided against bidding and a sec- ond had yet to publicly announce its decision as ADM closed for press. Others acknowledge their intent to bid, but are reluc-
tant to share much in the way of detail. This article was written before bids went in the box in March.
BAE Systems
BAE Systems was one of the two finalists for the Phase 2 competition with its AMV- 35, ultimately losing out to Rheinmetall. The company says is considering a response based upon the BAE Systems Hägglunds CV90 for Phase 3, but as of early February had yet to announce publicly whether it would submit a bid.
“We are currently assessing our position, based on the Commonwealth’s RFT and this assessment is subject to our routine pro- cesses and approvals. If we do bid Land 400 Phase 3, our offer will be the BAE Systems Hägglunds CV90, well recognised as the world’s exemplar IFV,” a company spokes- person said.
“As always, we look to support the Com- monwealth to protect our military forces where we can offer value for money, high performance system solutions that meet their needs. We are assessing the RFT and will make a decision in due course.”
ADM understands from sources close to the company that the BAE Systems will bid the program despite being cagey about the issue. Given the profile of the Australian program in the global con- text of IFV programs, a decision not to bid would be a tacit admission that the vehicle had reached its life of type, something the
company is keen to avoid ADM suspects.
General Dynamics Land
Systems – Australia
GDLS-A is offering a solution based upon the Ajax IFV developed by GDLS-UK for the British Army (formerly known as Scout). The Ajax is a development of the ASCOD armoured fighting vehicle used by the Spanish and Austrian armed forces. The company, which had an engineering varant on show at Land Forces, confirmed in early February that it had responded to the RFT.
“We have submitted a compelling Ajax- based offer for Land 400 Phase 3, which not only meets the customers’ key capability re- quirements but also offers a persuasive offer on the work that will be completed in Australia,” a GDLS-A spokesperson told ADM in a writ- ten statement. “We will reveal more details on our solution over the coming months.”
Hanwha
Hanwha Defense Australia Pty Ltd has also indicated that it will submit a response to the RFT, with a bid based upon the Redback In-
30 | March 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au
DEFENCE