Page 14 - Australian Defence Magazine June 2022

14 NEWS REVIEW INDUSTRY UPDATE
JUNE 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
AUSTRALIAN ARMOURED VEHICLES DELIVERED TO UKRAINE
THE government has sent 14 M113 Ar- moured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and a further 20 Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles (PMVs) to Ukraine as it defends against a Russian offensive in the eastern Donbas region.
Additionally, Australia is delivering 60 pallets of medical supplies, donated by Australian citizens, along with three pal- lets of radiation monitoring equipment and personal protective equipment, on behalf of the Australian Radiation Protec- tion and Nuclear Safety Authority (AR- PANSA) and Australia Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).
The $60.9 million in new support for Ukraine (14 APCs is $12 million and the 20 PMVs is $48.9 million) takes Austra- lia’s total contribution to date – as of 30 May – to over $285 million.
Australia has previously provided six M777 155mm lightweight, towed howit- zers and 155mm howitzer ammunition to Ukraine, on top of 20 Bushmaster protect-
ed mobility vehicles, 14 protected weap- ons systems, anti-armour weapons and ammunition, military equipment, combat rations, medical supplies and financial contributions.
ABOVE: An Australian-donated Bushmaster protected mobility vehicle bound for Ukraine is loaded onto an Antonov AN-124 cargo aircraft at RAAF Base Amberley.
PACIFIC SUPPORT VESSEL QUIETLY BOUGHT
JULIAN KERR | SYDNEY
DEFENCE has spent $93 million on the ac- quisition of a second-hand 5,204 tonne off- shore supply vessel currently moored in the Canary Islands in lieu of the “large-hulled” naval vessel that then-Defence Minister Christopher Pyne said in 2018 would be constructed in Western Australia.
While Senate Estimates was told in Oc-
tober 2021 that plans for local construction had been dropped in favour of an overseas purchase, details of February’s acquisition were first disclosed in Senate Estimates on 6 April.
According to Sheryl Lutz, First Assistant Ships at CASG, confidentiality issues with the procurement had involved the former operators, Canadian company Horizon Mar- itime, not telling the crew where they would be going next until completion of a mainte-
nance availability activity.
Chief of Navy Vice Admiral
Mike Noonan told Estimates the five-year-old Norwegian-built ves- sel, previously known as Horizon Star, had been renamed Austra- lian Defence Vessel (ADV) Reliant
LEFT: The Horizon Star is now the ADV Reliant.
and would normally be based in Brisbane. ADV Reliant is 103 metre long and has berthing for 60 personnel. Her aft deck provides 1060 square metres of cargo space and features a 150-tonne offshore crane and moon pool, an emergency tow- ing winch and firefighting capability. A
helipad is fitted forward of the bridge. Unlike the two Canberra-class Land- ing Helicopter Docks and the Landing Ship Dock HMAS Choules normally uti- lised for humanitarian aid and disaster relief (HADR) missions, ADV Reliant is expected to operate semi-permanently in
the South-West Pacific.
This will allow the vessel to support re-
silience building before a disaster occurs, while also remaining on station during and after the event to provide a first-re- sponse capability.
Brent Clark, CEO of AIDN, described the offshore acquisition as “incredibly dis- appointing”.
HORIZON MARITIME
DEFENCE