Army takes delivery of Pinzgauer 6x6s

The Minister of Defence, the Honourable Mark Burton, today officially accepted the New Zealand Army’s fleet of new Pinzgauer Light Operational Vehicles (LOVs) from manufacturer, Automotive Technik Ltd.

At the handover ceremony, Mark Burton said that this was another significant step towards achieving the government’s goal of a modernised, sustainable Defence Force.

Following the official handover and acceptance speeches, guests took the opportunity to inspect the vehicle and then media were invited to take a ride through a forestry area where they experienced the vehicles capabilities first-hand.

The Secretary of Defence, Graham Fortune; Vice Chief of Defence Force, Air Vice Marshal David Bamfield; Chief of Army, Major General Jerry Mateparae; and Director and Group Chief Executive of Automotive Technik Limited, Alan Stanley were also in attendance.

The 321 armoured and non-armoured vehicles represent an investment of $93 million, and will replace the Army’s current fleet of ageing Landrovers.

Additional information:

The Pinzgauer Light Operational Vehicles will be required to carry out command and control, liaison, replenishment, special force, casualty evacuation and administrative tasks.

In March 2004, the New Zealand Defence Force awarded a contract to Automotive Technik Limited for the first tranche of 188 Pinzgauer Light Operational Vehicles. This was followed by a contract in June 2004 for a further 133 Pinzgauer, of which 60 are armoured.

In total, 321 Pinzgauer’s are being bought to replace the Army’s 566 V8 Landrovers that were purchased in 1982. The total project will be completed in two phases.

Five variants of the Pinzgauer’s are included in the first tranche: 95 general service (GS) vehicles, 57 command and control (C2) vehicles, 15 shelter vehicles, 13 special operations vehicles (SOV) and 8 ambulances. There will be a high degree of commonality between all vehicles versions.

Automotive Technik Ltd is based in the United Kingdom and has a proven track record of supply to the British Ministry of Defence. It has established a subsidiary company in New Zealand to ensure the Defence Force has the right access, support and training.

There are approx 30,000 Pinzgauer’s in service around the world.

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