Bushmaster IMV

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Bushmaster
A Bushmaster IMV with the Australian Al Muthanna Task Group in Iraq
General characteristics
Crew	1 (plus 9 passengers)
Length	7.087 m
Width	2.5 m
Height	2.65 m
Weight	12.5 tonnes
Armour and armament
Armour	Monocoque armour ?
Main armament	Gun ring for 5.56mm and 7.62mm machine guns
Secondary armament	Not applicable
Mobility
Power plant	Caterpillar 3126E engine 330 hp (246 kW)
Suspension	4 wheel drive
Road speed	Over 100 km/h
Power/weight	26.4 hp/tonne
Range	Up to 1000km

The Bushmaster Infantry Mobility Vehicle is an Australian built wheeled armoured vehicle designed by Irish company Timoney Technology Ltd. and produced by Australian Defence Industries (ADI) Limited. The Bushmaster is currently in service with the Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Dutch Army.

1 Role and capabilities
2 Variants
3 The Bushmaster in Australian service
- 3.1 Units to operate the Bushmaster
- 3.2 Operational record
4 Exports
- 4.1 The Bushmaster in Dutch service
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Role and capabilities

The role of the Bushmaster is to provide armoured transport, with infantry dismounting from the vehicle before going into action. As the Bushmaster is only lightly armoured thus the term Infantry Mobility Vehicle (IMV) distinguishes it from a heavier wheeled or tracked armoured personnel carrier. In keeping with the vehicle's role and capabilities, the Australian Army designates Bushmaster equipped infantry units as being motorised, and not mechanised.

The Bushmaster is optimised for operations in northern Australia, and is capable of carrying 9 soldiers and their equipment, fuel and supplies for 3 days. The vehicle is fitted with air conditioning and was once planned to have a water cooling system but was omitted upon production due to cost constraints. After operational complaints the water cooling system is being reconsidered for installation.^[1]

The troop carrier variant of the Bushmaster is fitted with two gun rings. The forward gun ring can be fitted with a 5.56, 7.62 or 12.7mm machine gun or a 40mm automatic grenade launcher.

The Bushmaster is a mine protected vehicle and apparently provides a high degree of protection against land mines. The vehicle's armour provides protection against small arms of up to 7.62mm calibre.

The Bushmaster is air transportable in C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster III aircraft.

[edit] Variants

A pre-production Bushmaster

Six Bushmaster variants are in production for the Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force. These variants are:

Troop vehicle
Command vehicle
Assault Pioneer vehicle
Mortar vehicle
Direct Fire Weapons vehicle
Ambulance vehicle

The Troop variant being used by the Royal Australian Air Force differs from the Army variant in that it is fitted with 10 seats for infantry and a third weapon mount.^[2]

ADI has developed a civilian fire fighting variant of the Bushmaster called the FireKing and a military cargo carrying variant called the Armoured Combat Support Vehicle.^[3]. ADI is continuing to develop new Bushmaster variants.

The unit price for the Bushmaster differs slightly between variants, ranging from A$562,878 for the troop carrier variant and A$589,182 for the ambulance variant.^[4]

[edit] The Bushmaster in Australian service

Bushmasters operated by the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment during a training exercise in March 2006.

Following the vehicle's troubled development, a total of 299 Bushmasters were ordered by the Wheeled Manoeuvre Systems Program Office of the Defence Materiel Organisation for the Australian Defence Force (down from the 370 which were originally ordered).^[5] Bushmaster deliveries began in 2005 (three years later than was originally scheduled) and are scheduled to be complete in July 2007.^[6] Deliveries of the troop carrier variant (152 vehicles) were completed on 7 June 2006.^[7] Deliveries of the command variant are expected to be completed by mid-2006 followed by the delivery of the other variants.

In December 2006 the Australian Minister for Defence announced that the Australian Bushmaster order has been increased and over 400 vehicles will be delivered.^[8] This figure was confirmed as 442 vehicles in a subsequent press release.^[9]

The Australian Defence Force's original order of Bushmasters was broken down into the following configurations.^[10]

152 troop vehicles
72 command vehicles
21 assault pioneer vehicles
23 mortar vehicles
23 direct fire weapons vehicles
14 ambulance vehicles

The South Australian Forestry Corporation (ForestrySA) has ordered 15 FireKings. Deliveries of the FireKing to ForestrySA were completed in November 2005.^[11]

[edit] Units to operate the Bushmaster

The majority of Australia's Bushmasters are to be allocated to the Army, though 12 are operated by the Royal Australian Air Force's Airfield Defence Guards.

The Bushmaster will be operated by the following Army units:

B Squadron, 3rd/4th Cavalry Regiment
5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (support elements only)
7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (support elements only)
6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment
25th/49th Battalion, The Royal Queensland Regiment
7th Combat Service Support Battalion
12th/16th Hunter River Lancers (one squadron)

The 8th/9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment is to receive the extra Bushmasters ordered in December 2006 after raising in 2008.^[12]

The 9th Battalion, The Royal Queensland Regiment is no longer to receive these vehicles.

The Bushmaster is also operated all three of the RAAF's Airfield Defence Squadrons:

1 ADS is equipped with six Bushmasters and the remaining six vehicles are shared by 2 ADS and 3 ADS.^[13]

The Motorised Combat Wing of the Army's Combat Arms Training Centre provides initial training to Army and Air Force Bushmaster drivers.

[edit] Operational record

A Bushmaster in Iraq in August 2006.

To date, Australia's Bushmasters have been deployed on five operations:

Two prototypes were deployed to East Timor in 1999 for trials and VIP protection.
Ten Bushmasters were deployed to Iraq with the Al Muthanna Task Group in May 2005. This force has been redesignated Overwatch Battle Group (West) and operated 19 Bushmasters in September 2006.^[14]
A small number of Bushmasters have been attached to the Australian Special Forces Task Group in Afghanistan since its re-deployment in September 2005.
A Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment was equipped with Bushmasters during its role as the security response force for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.^[15]
The Reconstruction Task Force deployed to Afghanistan in August 2006 is equipped with a number of Bushmasters.

While a full independent assessment of how well the Bushmaster has performed on these deployments is not yet available, Australian Department of Defence press releases and the Army's service newspaper have stated that the vehicles have proven successful. The Bushmaster's high degree of crew and passenger comfort has apparently been particularly appreciated in Iraq.^[16]

In September 2006 the Australian Department of Defence announced that it was modifying its fleet of Bushmasters in response to criticisms from Australian soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. These criticisms include concerns that the Bushmaster's gunner is exposed to enemy fire and the absence of a drinking water cooling system.^[17] The modifications will include fitting a remote weapon station to at least some Bushmasters and developing an improved water cooling system.^[18]

[edit] Exports

ADI is currently marketing the Bushmaster for export. The Bushmaster has been trialed by the United Arab Emirates and exhibited in a number of trade exhibitions.^[19] The Bushmaster may also be offered to the United States and Iraq.^[20] The only export sales to date, however, have been the sale of 25 Bushmasters to the Dutch Army in July 2006. As of October of 2006, ADI (Australian Defence Industries) are actually no longer in existence, after parent company Transfield Holdings PTY LTD, sold their share of ADI to Thales Australia Holdings, who were already 50% shareholders in the company. All new Bushmasters and modifications of old models will be conducted by Thales in conjunction with the Royal Australian Regiment, and Accredited Test Services. As of November, all ADI branding on buildings ETC has in fact been changed to Thales.

[edit] The Bushmaster in Dutch service

In July 2006 the Dutch Government announced an urgent purchase of 25 Bushmasters to equip Royal Netherlands Army units operating in Afghanistan. Due to the urgency of this purchase these vehicles were taken from Australian Army stocks. Additional Bushmasters will be built to replenish the Australian inventory. 23 Bushmasters were directly delivered to Dutch Army units in Afghanistan starting from 28 August. The remaining two vehicles were transported to The Netherlands to be used for training purposes. Twelve of the Bushmasters were fitted with a remote weapon station before delivery.^[21]