The Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle or Infantry Mobility Vehicle is
an Australian-built four wheeled, all-wheel drive armoured vehicle. The
Bushmaster is based on a design by Irish company Timoney Technology Ltd under a
licence agreement with Perry Engineering in Adelaide; that licence was sold, with
permission granted by Timoney as required by the licence terms, to Thales
Australia. Once the Bushmaster was selected by the Australian Army after
trials in 1998 to meet the Bushranger project requirements, the range of
variants was developed further by Thales Australia in Bendigo. Oshkosh Truck has
a contract to provide support and would manufacture in the US if there were an
American order. The Bushmaster is currently in service with the Australian
Army, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Netherlands Army and British Army.
Design The role of the Bushmaster is to provide
armoured transport, with infantry dismounting from the vehicle before
going into action. As the Bushmaster is only lightly armoured, the term Infantry
Mobility Vehicle was initially adopted to distinguish it from a heavier wheeled
or tracked armoured personnel carrier, such as the ASLAV and M113 also in
Australian service. The Bushmaster replaced a stop-gap unarmoured 6x6
vehicle of the Land Rover Perentie family called the Infantry Improvised
Mobility Vehicle. Later the Bushmaster's designation was changed to Protected
Mobility Vehicle. The Bushmaster is optimised for
operations in northern Australia, and is capable of carrying up to 9 soldiers and
their equipment, fuel and supplies for 3 days, depending on the type of variant.
The vehicle is fitted with air conditioning and was once planned to
have a cool water drinking system, but was omitted upon production due to cost
constraints. After operational complaints the drinking water cooling
system is being reconsidered for installation. It has a road cruise speed
of 100 km/h and an operational range of 800 km.
The Bushmaster is a mine protected vehicle and provides a high degree of
protection against land mines, using its v-hull monocoque to deflect the blast
away from the vehicle and its occupants. The vehicle's armour provides protection
against small arms of up to 7.62 mm calibre. The fuel and hydraulic tanks of
the vehicle are located outside the crew compartment, while it also has an
automatic fire suppression system. The troop carrier variant of the Bushmaster
is fitted with one gun ring. The forward gun ring can be fitted with a 5.56 mm or
7.62 mm machine gun. The two rear hatches each have a mounting boss to
allow the attachment of a swing mount capable of holding a 5.56 mm machine
gun. The Bushmaster is air transportable by
C-130 Hercules, C-17 Globemaster III and Mil Mi-26 aircraft. It is the first
armoured vehicle to be designed and completely manufactured in Australia
since the Sentinel tank during the Second World War.
Variants Seven Bushmaster variants have been
produced for the Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force. These are:
Troop variant Command variant
Assault Pioneer variant Air Defence variant
Mortar variant Direct Fire Weapons variant
Ambulance variant The Troop variant being used by the
Royal Australian Air Force originally differed from the Army variant in that
it was fitted with 10 seats for infantry and a third weapon mount. However, all
Troop variants are now fitted with 10 seats.
Thales Australia has developed a civilian fire fighting variant of the
Bushmaster called the FireKing and a military cargo carrying variant called
the Armoured Combat Support Vehicle. This variant is currently being
evaluated for service with the Australian Army under LAND 121, which
will see the replacement of up to 2,000 vehicles and trailers. As of 2015 an
Electronic Warfare variant with a 6-metre mast is currently under
development to meet an Australian requirement under the Defence Capability
Plan. According to the Australian National
Audit Office, unit price for Bushmasters in 2000 differed slightly between
variants, ranging from A$562,878 for the troop carrier variant and A$589,182 for
the ambulance variant. Operational history
= Australia= In keeping with the vehicle's role and
capabilities, the Australian Army designates Bushmaster equipped infantry
units as being motorised, and not mechanised. Following the vehicle's
troubled development, a total of 299 Bushmasters were ordered by the Wheeled
Manoeuvre Systems Program Office of the Defence Materiel Organisation for the
Australian Defence Force. Bushmaster deliveries began in 2005 and were
scheduled to be completed in July 2007. Deliveries of the troop carrier variant
were completed on 7 June 2006. Deliveries of the command variant were
completed by mid-2006 followed by the delivery of the other variants.
In December 2006 the Australian Minister for Defence announced that the
Australian Bushmaster order has been increased and over 400 vehicles will be
delivered. This figure was confirmed as 443 vehicles in a subsequent press
release. In August 2007 an additional 250 were ordered for a total ADF
delivery of 696 vehicles of all configurations. This was further
increased in October 2008 to 737 vehicles for the Australian Defence
Force. On 12 May 2011 the Australian government announced the purchase of an
additional 101 Bushmasters, in order to replace vehicles damaged on operations
and to provide additional vehicles for training and operational use. A further
order for 214 vehicles was announced in July 2012.
The South Australian Forestry Corporation has ordered 15 FireKings.
Deliveries of the FireKing to ForestrySA were completed in November 2005.
The Motorised Combat Wing of the Army's Combat Arms Training Centre provides
initial training to Army and Air Force Bushmaster drivers. Maintenance training
is provided by the Army Logistic Training Centre.
Operational record To date, Australia's Bushmasters have
been deployed on five operations: Two prototypes were deployed to East
Timor in 1999 for trials and VIP protection.
Ten Bushmasters were deployed to Iraq with the Al Muthanna Task Group in May
2005. This force was later redesignated Overwatch Battle Group and operated 19
Bushmasters from September 2006. A small number of Bushmasters have been
attached to the Australian Special Forces Task Group in Afghanistan since
its re-deployment in September 2005. A Company, 6th Battalion, Royal
Australian Regiment was equipped with Bushmasters during its role as the
security response force for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
The Reconstruction Task Force, later redesignated the Mentoring Task Force,
which was deployed in Afghanistan from August 2006 to late 2013 was also
equipped with a large number of Bushmasters.
Australian Department of Defence press releases and the Army's service
newspaper have stated that the vehicles have proven successful. The Bushmaster's
high degree of crew and passenger comfort has apparently been particularly
appreciated in Iraq. In September 2006 the Australian
Department of Defence announced that it was modifying its fleet of Bushmasters
in response to criticisms from Australian soldiers in Iraq and
Afghanistan. These criticisms include concerns that the Bushmaster's gunner is
exposed to enemy fire and the absence of a drinking water cooling system. The
modifications will include fitting a CROWS remote weapon system to at least
some Bushmasters and developing an improved water cooling system. The
protected weapons stations were installed to vehicles deployed to Iraq
and Afghanistan in early 2007. The installation team comprised staff from
Project Bushranger and the Army and was conducted in theatre.
On 17 March 2010, all five Australian soldiers from the 1st Mentoring Task
Force who were occupying a Bushmaster were wounded, three of them seriously,
when it was hit by a roadside bomb in the Chora Valley north of the main
Australian base near Tarin Kowt in Oruzgan Province during a routine
vehicle patrol. As of May 2011, 31 Bushmasters have been damaged beyond
repair while serving with the Australian Army.
= Netherlands= In July 2006 the Dutch Government
announced an urgent purchase of 25 Bushmasters to equip Royal Netherlands
Army units operating in Afghanistan. Due to the urgency of this purchase these
vehicles were taken from Australian Army stocks. Additional Bushmasters will be
built to replenish the Australian inventory. 23 Bushmasters were directly
delivered to Dutch Army units in Afghanistan starting from 28 August. The
remaining two vehicles were transported to The Netherlands to be used for
training purposes. Twelve of the Bushmasters were fitted with a Thales
SWARM remote weapon station before delivery.
9 July 2007, Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited was awarded a contract
of A$5.8 million for the supply of remote weapon systems for use by the
Netherlands army. The contract was awarded to EOS by Thales Australia for
fitting to the Bushmaster Infantry Mobility Vehicles manufactured by Thales
for the Netherlands army. The order entails 17 CROWS Remote Weapon Stations.
It is expected that the first of these systems will be operational in theatre
by August 2007. On 20 September 2007, during an
engagement with the Taliban a 20-year-old Dutch soldier was killed in
action. His body was evacuated in a Bushmaster which was subsequently
attacked with small arms, mortars and RPGs. The vehicle was struck several
times but all soldiers in the Bushmaster survived and were unhurt. Since the
vehicle was immobilized and still under attack, they were forced to abandon it.
Since salvage was not possible the Bushmaster was later destroyed by a
Dutch Apache helicopter. The troops were transported out of danger by a second
Bushmaster IMV. On 19 October 2007 during a fire-fight
between a Dutch patrol and Taliban insurgents, a Bushmaster was hit by an
improvised bomb. Although none of the passengers were hurt, the bomb damaged
the front of the Bushmaster. The Bushmaster was sent to Kamp Holland for
repairs. The Netherlands has ordered additional
Bushmasters on several occasions in 2007 and 2008. On 20 November 2007 the Dutch
Defence Ministry announced that it would acquire an additional 10 vehicles to
replace the two damaged and two destroyed vehicles and a Patria armoured
vehicle which was also destroyed in Uruzgan. One vehicle will be sent to the
Netherlands for training purposes, and the rest will go directly to
Afghanistan. The Dutch ordered a further 13 Bushmasters in June 2008, taking
their total order to 49 vehicles. At this time six Dutch Bushmasters had been
destroyed in Afghanistan. In January 2009, another batch of nine
vehicles was ordered. These vehicles will be fitted with cameras, sensors and
a grappler to find and destroy Improvised explosive devices. A further
14 Bushmasters were ordered in June 2009. In August 2009, another 14
vehicles were ordered, bringing the total Dutch order to 86. In 2014 the
Dutch government announced that it would order an additional batch of 20 vehicles
for use by the Royal Dutch Marines. Dutch special forces deployed as part of
the Northern Mali conflict from April 2014 are equipped with a number
Bushmasters. May 2015 a Dutch Bushmaster was struck by an IED near Kidal. Noone
was hurt by this incident and the Bushmaster was returned to the Dutch
kamp at Gao. = United Kingdom=
The British Army acquired 24 Bushmasters in mid-2008 specifically for use in Iraq
to support Task Force Black and United Kingdom Special Forces operations around
Basra. The vehicles were heavily modified and were used to provide
armoured transport for strike teams. Features included an increased armour
package, bull-bar, ECM and anti-IED suites, and a CROWS RWS fitted with an
M2 .50 calibre machine gun. The Bushmaster was reportedly used instead
of other platforms available to the UKSF due to its better all-round protection
in built-up urban areas. Operators
= Current operators= Australia: a total of 1,052 Bushmasters
have been ordered by the Australian Defence Force.
United Kingdom: 24 Bushmasters purchased in May 2008. British vehicles are fitted
with additional armor, electronics to counter IEDs and a .50 calibre machine
gun mounted in a RWS. Netherlands: 106 Bushmasters ordered;
the Netherlands is the second largest operator of the Bushmaster. In
operational use by the Dutch Army and Royal Dutch Marines.
Indonesia: 3 Bushmasters for initial order. The vehicles were delivered to
the Indonesian Special Forces in February 2014.
Jamaica: 12 ordered in December 2013 to replace the Jamaican Defence Force's
fourteen Cadillac Gage V150s. Deliveries began in mid-2015, and will be completed
in early 2016. Japan: 4 vehicles ordered in April 2014.
It is intended that they will be used to transport Japanese evacuees in the event
of overseas hostage situations. = Potential operators=
Spain: In August 2008, it was reported that the Spanish Government was "showing
strong interest in the Bushmaster". France: The Bushmaster, under the name
of Broussard, is competing against a lightened version of Nexter's VBCI and
the Renault AMC for a 2,300 vehicle contract to replace the French Army's
VABs. United Arab Emirates: Trialled only.
Libya: Expressed interest in 100–400 vehicles.
= Failed bids= United States: Thales has teamed with US
truck manufacturer Oshkosh to market the Bushmaster in the United States. In late
June 2007, it was prematurely reported that the United States Department of
Defense was close to placing an order for 1,500 vehicles as part of its MRAP
program. This sale did not go ahead. The Bushmaster was officially removed from
the MRAP contest on 7 August 2007. Canada: A bid was submitted with Thales
Canada and DEW Engineering for the Tactical Armored Vehicle Program, but
later withdrawn when the Canadian government decided it wanted a smaller
vehicle; the competition was ultimately won by Textron with a modified M117,
tailored to Canadian requirements. See also
Hawkei PMV References
Notes Bibliography
Neville, Leigh. Special Operations Patrol Vehicles: Afghanistan and Iraq.
Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84908-187-0.
External links Project Land 116 – Bushranger – Defence
Materiel Organisation Thales Protected Mobility – official
manufacturer dedicated website.