Shoal congratulates Hanwha Defense Australia on LAND 400 Phase 3 shortlisting
Shoal and our teaming partners are very pleased to congratulate Hanwha Defense Australia on the AS21 Redback being shortlisted for the Australian Army’s largest project, LAND 400 Phase 3, the acquisition of a fleet of tracked Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs).
The Shoal-led team of more than 30 Australian experts worked closely with Hanwha to finalise the Redback vehicle family design to meet the Army’s demanding requirements, develop logistics and training system concepts, facilitate Australian industry engagement, provide legal and project management advice, and draft the ASDEFCON tender submission.
The AS21 Redback is a next-generation IFV evolved from the very successful K21 IFV and K9 Self-Propelled Howitzer currently in service with the South Korean Army and a range of European Armies. The Redback provides mobility and comprehensive protection against ballistic, mine and CBRN threats for eight fully kitted combatants and a crew of three. It also provides world-leading sensing, engagement and command and control capabilities, being fitted with the EOS T-2000 turret, the revolutionary Elbit Iron Vision combat visualisation system, and the Elbit Iron Fist soft and hard kill active protection system.
Commenting on the very effective collaboration underpinning the success of the Hanwha bid, Shoal Head of Business Development, Shaun Wilson, praised the agility, trust and professionalism of Hanwha and of our teaming partners:
“Shoal is very pleased that Hanwha will now have opportunity to demonstrate the value and benefits of the AS21 Redback¸ both for the Army and for Australia more generally. Our whole team was very impressed at Hanwha’s ability to produce a superior vehicle design that will meet Australia’s needs. Furthermore, Hanwha’s advanced manufacturing capabilities and sheer scale will ensure that the project is delivered effectively and efficiently.
I also want to congratulate and thank our teaming partners for ‘stepping up’ so quickly and working together so effectively; without them, we simply would not have been able to respond to such a demanding requirement as well as we did. The specialist capabilities resident in Australian SMEs such as BLT Consulting, Boab Logistics, Hunter AGILE, Janmac, MBPD, REDARC, Understood Consulting, and VoTech were fundamental to the success of our effort. With more than 100 companies in the Shoal partner network, we can respond to virtually any complex technology project need, usually very quickly.”
The Shoal team now looks forward to the Redback progressing successfully through the upcoming Risk Mitigation Activity (RMA) being conducted by the Department of Defence Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG). Should the Redback be successful in securing the LAND 400-3 contract, many hundreds of jobs will be created in Australia to manufacture, support and evolve the platform.
