Aussie Hawkei military vehicle enters production

Mainstream car manufacturing died in Australia when Ford, Toyota and Holden closed their factories by the end of 2017, but the heavily armed – and armoured – Hawkei military vehicle shows there’s still plenty of life left in local auto-making.

Thales Protected Vehicles in Bendigo, Victoria, is now building the Hawkei protected vehicle, a 10-tonne 4x4 machine with a 3000kg payload and a four-tonne towing capacity.

carsales has spotted the Hawkei, the successor to the Bushmaster, undergoing testing in various proving grounds over the past half decade and it’s fair to say the new vehicle is an absolute beast, it sheer length, width and height dwarfing pretty much anything else on the road.

Thales has a contract to build 1100 Hawkei vehicles and 1058 associated trailers, with deliveries to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) expected from mid-2021.

Its production will support around 200 local jobs in Bendigo and a further 180 at 25 suppliers, 18 of which are located in Victoria, with 50 vehicles day produced until mid-2022.

Australia’s own Humvee, the Hawkei was officially launched in Canberra today and will deliver “unparalleled levels of blast and ballistic protection for a helicopter transportable vehicle,” which means it can be airdropped into hot zones.

The air-conditioned four-door version can seat up to five people, while the two-door version has room for three.

Hawkei is propelled by a 3.2-litre turbo-diesel engine (200kW/610Nm) that sends power to all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission, with a two-speed transfer case for challenging terrain.

It has a top speed of 115km/h and a range of around 600km. The big Aussie warrior rides on independent coil suspension and has a central tyre inflation system.

The all-Aussie military machine can be used for electronic warfare, liaison, surveillance, reconnaissance, command and control and troop movement.

It can also be fitted with a variety of weapons – manned gun-rings or remote weapon stations – including 7.62mm machine guns, 12.7mm heavy machine guns, 40mm auto grenade launchers, 30mm cannons or guided rockets/missiles.

The Australian federal minister for defence, Linda Reynolds, attended the vehicle’s official launch in Canberra and said the new vehicle will be an asset to the ADF.

“The Hawkei is a significant enhancement to existing land capability that will provide superior mobility, survivability and communications, while protecting the lives of our soldiers when operating in increasingly lethal and complex environments,” said the defence minister.

“This is yet another example of Defence and defence industry managing business practices in a COVID-19 safe manner to continue delivering ADF capability,” she added.