A major milestone was marked on Friday for the new Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence at Redbank.
The sod turning by Minister for Defence Christopher Pyne puts Ipswich a step closer to becoming a hub for construction of the army’s state-of-the-art Land 400 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle.
“The centre, known as MILVEHCOE, represents a multi-million dollar investment by Rheinmetall, which is delivering both trucks and armoured vehicles for the Army,” Mr Pyne said.
“This is a nation-building effort involving 1,450 jobs across Australia for our newest armoured vehicles alone and reinforces the Federal Government’s drive to support the workforce behind the Defence Force.”
Minister for Defence Industry Steven Ciobo said the centre would involve many high-tech jobs.
“These are the jobs of the future, working on highly advanced military vehicles with advanced complex systems,” Mr Ciobo said.
“These are vehicles which are designed and manufactured to give our soldiers the best possible chance of completing their missions on operations and coming home safely to their families.
“The Ipswich facility will be home to the production line for the Boxer 8×8 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle which is being delivered under Defence’s LAND 400 Phase 2; a $5 billion plus project.”
Rheinmetall’s choice of Ipswich to base their Asia-Pacific Headquarters and Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence, with the support of the Queensland Government, establishes the city as a new hub for manufacturing the next generation of vehicles for the Australia Army.
The city is home to one of Australia’s largest Defence bases, RAAF Base Amberley. The base, its 7,400-strong population and the aircraft flying over the region every day are a visual reminder of the enduring relationship between Ipswich and our nation’s Defence Force.
To complement the strong defence presence, Ipswich is supported by a cluster of manufacturers located in the region, with almost 1,000 businesses positioned to contribute to defence needs and global supply chains.
The city is home to one of Australia’s largest Defence bases, RAAF Base Amberley. The base, its 7,400-strong population and the aircraft flying over the region every day are a visual reminder of the enduring relationship between Ipswich and our nation’s Defence Force.
To complement the strong defence presence, Ipswich is supported by a cluster of manufacturers located in the region, with almost 1,000 businesses positioned to contribute to defence needs and global supply chains.
Officials will be launching the City of Ipswich Defence Industry Strategy 2018-2023 at the Queensland Defence Summit: Ipswich 2018 which is being held on Tuesday 20 November.
Deliveries of the Australian produced Boxer will commence in 2020 with the final vehicles being delivered in 2026.
The secure, state-of-the-art defence facility will include:
- manufacturing and administration buildings
- a corporate function centre
- a vehicle compliance testing track
- an electromagnetic compatibility chamber
- a fully-enclosed weapons test firing tunnel
- car parking for employees and visitors, vehicle storage, refuelling and wash-down bays, water storage tanks, waste and recycling facilities.