Why are they selling the army fleet?

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10th August 2013, 08:39 AM
Lotz-A-Landies

Pickles

While the first part of your post is correct, Land Rover is being replaced by Mercedes G Wagen because Ford PAG did not submit the Defender to the tender. DMO can not choose or even consider a vehicle that is not submitted by the manufacturer. That is not to say that Defender would have been successful over the G Wagon during a competitive tender selection process.

Pedro: I think you'll find that is an GPS antenna mount, see the sharks fin antenna at each end. The Aussie Mack R series have had their Hendrickson rear suspension replaced by airbags, at least on the un-armoured version.

Diana
10th August 2013, 09:39 AM
Pickles2

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Pickles

While the first part of your post is correct, Land Rover is being replaced by Mercedes G Wagen because Ford PAG did not submit the Defender to the tender. DMO can not choose or even consider a vehicle that is not submitted by the manufacturer. That is not to say that Defender would have been successful over the G Wagon during a competitive tender selection process.

Diana

No worries, I agree...and looking at your posts.....you would have FAR FAR more knowledge than I do....FOR SURE.
But, I think the reason that a tender was not submitted, was because they would have known that the current Defender would not have been competitive with other offerings.
Like I said, I'm VERY new here, but I've been trying to learn as much as I can, & in the past I think the British "War Dept" as they used to call it, now the Ministry Of Defence, has been LR's biggest customer, & the Australian Army has also bought very large numbers.
But, in the old days, if L.R. received a request with specifications for a vehicle which they didn't have, they would simply design one.....but not any more...I don't believe L.R. has the capacity to do this any more.
Like I said, I'm new.....so, what do you think?
Cheers, Pickles.
10th August 2013, 10:03 AM
juddy

The new Defender Military spec is actually a very good vehicle, and as it costs far less than a G-Wagon, we may see more around, would not surprise me if the ADF, don't get a small batch at some point....
10th August 2013, 07:01 PM
Disco Muppet

Quote:

Originally Posted by juddy

The new Defender Military spec is actually a very good vehicle, and as it costs far less than a G-Wagon, we may see more around, would not surprise me if the ADF, don't get a small batch at some point....

I've heard from someone who worked on Project Bushmaster that the ADF was looking at plain green Defenders for the reserve units.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

That is not to say that Defender would have been successful over the G Wagon during a competitive tender selection process.

When you consider all the fruit the G wagon comes with, I'd be surprised if they picked a Defender over it.
10th August 2013, 08:46 PM
Pedro_The_Swift

Quote:

Originally Posted by juddy

The new Defender Military spec is actually a very good vehicle, and as it costs far less than a G-Wagon, we may see more around, would not surprise me if the ADF, don't get a small batch at some point....

Thats an interesting post,,:huh:

any pics of the current military spec LR?
10th August 2013, 08:58 PM
Disco Muppet

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

Thats an interesting post,,:huh:

any pics of the current military spec LR?

Defender2 - View topic - Puma goes to war.............
11th August 2013, 07:07 PM
S12A

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

The reality is that since Vietnam very few of our military vehicles have actually seen active service, the SIII model only went to a couple of UN white missions and things like the leopard and abrams tanks none have seen active service.

The R series Macks currently being sold are mostly already 30 years old and the model out of production for the last 8 years, very few commercial operators operate equipment that old. Parts go out of production and become unavailable.

you might be suprised what gets outside the wire;
(i took the 2nd and 3rd pic in Zabol province first in Uruzgan near a place called Khorma)
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...13/08/1061.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...13/08/1062.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...13/08/1063.jpg
12th August 2013, 02:08 PM
Pedro_The_Swift

is that a spare leaf spring on the roof?
love the nsw number plate:p
12th August 2013, 02:21 PM
Lotz-A-Landies

Quote:

Originally Posted by S12A

you might be suprised what gets outside the wire;
(i took the 2nd and 3rd pic in Zabol province first in Uruzgan near a place called Khorma)
<Images removed>

Not disputing tens maybe hundreds of vehicles have been to conflict zones. The truth remains, that the vast majority of the thousands of vehicles in the Army's fleet have seen nothing more dangerous than one of the Kangaroo or Talisman-Sabre multi-national exercises.

I doubt we'll see many of the armoured cab R-Series Macks coming through the AFM auctions, at least in the short term.
12th August 2013, 02:39 PM
Lotz-A-Landies

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pickles2

No worries, I agree...and looking at your posts.....you would have FAR FAR more knowledge than I do....FOR SURE.
But, I think the reason that a tender was not submitted, was because ...

Ford PAG had two problems with the Defender, firstly it didn't match the market Ford wanted for it's Land Rover division which was the premium/luxury end of the 4WD market. Secondly given that military contracts usually have a 20 to 30 year lifespan, Ford didn't want to hobble itself with a supply contract if they couldn't find a buyer for the Land Rover division which they were trying to off load.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pickles2

But, in the old days, if L.R. received a request with specifications for a vehicle which they didn't have, they would simply design one.....but not any more...I don't believe L.R. has the capacity to do this any more.

The perentie 6X6 was the last major special specification vehicle developed for the Australian Army in the 1980s-1990s. However since the closure of Jaguar Rover Australia plant in the 1990s, there is no in-house capability to develop new specifications in Australia.

JLR retains the ability to produce special production in the UK through its Land Rover Special Vehicles division, however a lot of those models are out sourced to after-market sub contractors, such as the Wolf.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pickles2

... they would have known that the current Defender would not have been competitive with other offerings.

If LRA wanted to design a specific model to compete with the other compeditors, e.g. Mercedes, there were a nuber of options to fulfill those additional specifications, diff-locks (axle locks) were available from Maxi-Drive or Detroit, airconditioning is available in the Puma and if they wanted, they could continue with an alternative to the Ford Puma diesel, like the later model Isuzu diesels. Tennix/BAE Systems in Bandiana had a rebuild line for Perentie overhaul, there is no reason why they couldn't have sub-contracted BAE or Thales etc to build a competitive Land Rover, however in addition to the above, the original DMO/Army specification was for a single supplier of light, medium and heavy GS vehicles. At that time only Mercedes Benz were able to fullfil that requirement.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pickles2

Like I said, I'm VERY new here, but I've been trying to learn as much as I can, & in the past I think the British "War Dept" as they used to call it, now the Ministry Of Defence, has been LR's biggest customer, & the Australian Army has also bought very large numbers.

Actually in the early days, Australia's Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme had the single largest fleet of Land Rovers anywhere in the world.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pickles2

Like I said, I'm new.....so, what do you think?
Cheers, Pickles.

Nothing wrong with being new.

Diana

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