THE HON JOEL FITZGIBBON MP
Minister for Defence
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
151/2008
$350 MILLION CONTRACT SIGNED FOR NEW MILITARY VEHICLES
Minister for Defence, The Hon Joel Fitzgibbon MP, today witnessed the signing of a $350
million contract with Mercedes-Benz to supply 1200 new G-Wagons to the Australian
Defence Force. The signing ceremony took place at the Land Warfare Conference in
Brisbane.
Minister Fitzgibbon said the two-tonne, all terrain vehicle came highly endorsed, with
around 60,000 vehicles currently in use by defence forces in Canada, Austria, the United
States, Germany and Singapore.
“Today’s contract is an important milestone for the Government’s $4.6 billion, Land 121 –
Project Overlander, also the Army’s largest project,” he said.
Land 121 is the most ambitious project ever undertaken by Army and will, over the next
decade, deliver a fleet of 7,000 vehicles and supporting modules and trailers to meet the
current and future demands of modern warfare.
The G-Wagon represents a new capability for Defence and will provide enhanced levels
of mobility and operational functionality.
“The first vehicles delivered will be the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon, the lightweight and
light capability segment of Land 121 and will progressively replace the current fleet of
Land Rovers some of which have been in service since the 1980s.”
Minister Fitzgibbon said the Government was confident it had the best vehicle for the job.
“Earlier this year we undertook four months of rigorous compliance testing in authentic
conditions to ensure the capability of the vehicle matched the requirements of the
project,” he said.
Six different types of G-Wagon will be acquired by Land 121 with the majority going to
Army units. The range includes: a 4x4 general purpose station wagon, two 4x4 cargo
variants, a 6x6 cab chassis variant, a 6x6 dual cab truck, and a specialist 6x6
surveillance and reconnaissance vehicle.
The new military vehicles will feature detachable unit-specific modules designed for tasks
including munitions transfer, field ambulances and troop carriers, reducing the need for
purpose built vehicles and increasing the logistical flexibility of the fleet.
There are more than 2,000 examples of Mercedes-Benz products in service with the
Australian Defence Force including the Actros 8x8 heavy duty transport vehicles for the
Royal Australian Air Force, the Unimog medium recovery vehicle and Unimog medium
cargo vehicle.
Media contacts:
Christian Taubenschlag (Joel Fitzgibbon):
02 6277 7800 or 0438 595 567
Defence Media Liaison:
02 6265 3343 or 0408 498 664
NEWS 
