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18 Jan 18. Supacat Special Operations Vehicles – Mobility Heavy (SOV-MH) accepted in New Zealand. Supacat has announced that the fleet of Special Operations Vehicles – Mobility Heavy (SOV-MH) has been accepted by the New Zealand Ministry of Defence. The fleet goes into service with the New Zealand Defence Force early this year. The new SOV-MH vehicles are based on the latest MkII version of Supacat’s HMT Extenda and provide a high level of commonality with the equivalent vehicles with other Special Forces. New Zealand is a new customer for Supacat and the latest defence force to join the HMT family. Designed for, and used by, the world’s elite Special Forces, the HMT Extenda is unique in being convertible to either a 4×4 or 6×6 configuration to meet different operational requirements. Its open architecture provides for various levels of protection and great variety in the roles and missions for which it can be configured.
Michael Halloran, Managing Director Asia Pacific said, “We are very pleased to have achieved our first product export from the Australian office. It is a great credit to the Supacat Team Australia members that we have delivered this fleet on time and to budget.”
The SOV-MH vehicles were manufactured at Supacat’s existing assembly facilities in Australia using Supacat Team Australia members to manufacture and assemble the vehicle. This represents the first time that Supacat Team Australia members have exported completed vehicles and complements the opportunities already emerging for Australian suppliers to enter Supacat’s global supply chains.
18 Jan 18. Brazilian marines bolster amphibious capability. The Brazilian Navy Marine Corps is significantly boosting its ability to conduct amphibious operations as it prepares to receive 23 AAV7A1 RAM/RS amphibious assault vehicles (commonly called the CLAnf in Brazil),
This tranche includes 20 AAVP7A1 RAM/RS transports, two AAVC7A1 RAM/RS command posts, and one AAVR7A1 RAM/RS recovery vehicle.
One transport variant and one command post variant were received by the Amphibious Vehicles Battalion (BtlVtrAnf) in 2017, and the remaining 21 are to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2018, the navy told Jane’s.
In 2015 BAE Systems was awarded a USD82m US foreign military sales contract to modernise former US Marine Corps vehicles for Brazil. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
17 Jan 18. Crystal Group Inc., a leading designer/manufacturer of rugged computer hardware for industry and defense, is introducing the first product in the new Crystal Group RACE™ (Rugged Autonomous Computer Equipment) line, engineered to accelerate autonomous vehicle (AV), automated driving system (ADS), and unmanned (UAV) projects. The Crystal Group RACE0161 high-performance, rugged computer is specifically designed to help engineers shorten development time, bringing autonomous vehicle innovations to market ahead of their competitors. The fast-paced autonomous industry is estimated to be worth trillions of dollars. Crystal Group’s latest autonomous vehicle computer, the RACE0161 gives automaker OEMs impressive compute power, data-handling capabilities, and storage capacity in a compact, rugged solution capable of withstanding harsh environmental conditions. Autonomous driving technology is quickly ushering in a new economy predicted to achieve unprecedented growth and reach $7trn by 2050, according to a new study by Intel Corporation and Strategy Analytics. Crystal Group and Intel have partnered together to provide autonomous solutions for several leading OEM’s to date. The partnership will continue to tap the booming autonomous market with leading edge technology of Crystal Group’s new RACE offerings. Crystal Group’s latest autonomous vehicle computer provides the horsepower AV and ADS projects need, combining robust I/O, mult