Thales Hawkei deliveries resume – report

The federal government has has identified a ‘fix’ for braking problems in 1,100 Hawkei military vehicles, with deliveries set to resume from manufacturer French group Thales according to media reports.

ABC news reported that planning is underway to rollout the repaired Hawkei vehicles to the Australian Defence Force.

The news comes after a protracted fix for the braking issue which stopped delivery of the vehicles in 2020 from Thales’ Bendigo facility in Victoria.

It also comes as Canberra on Tuesday announced a $45 million contract for another 15 Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles to be used for command and control of the Army’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) long-range missile regiment.

According to ABC, dozens of the Hawkei light-armoured patrol vehicles had been sitting idle outside the Thales factory in recent years.

The Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said: “These vehicles are critical to the mobility of the Australian Army.

“[We’ll roll them out] through a remediation program to have the fix installed.

“Defence will [then] advise the government on when we can expect to declare full operational capability.”

However the report raises as many questions as it answers.

In July, 2021 @AuManufacturing reported the then Defence Minister, Peter Dutton as saying in a statement that the braking issue had been resolved and Defence had ‘lifted the Hawkei’s operating restrictions, enabling the recommencement of full-rate production and rollout of the capability’.

Thales Bendigo is currently building 78 Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles in Bendigo as part of a $160 million contract, with production on the new 15 to start mid next year.

Further reading:
Canberra announces $45 million contract for 15 more Bushmasters
Hawkei issues resolved, gains operational approval

Picture: credit Defence