Defence Minister to accept Pinzgauer Light Operational Vehicles

Media are invited to attend the acceptance ceremony of the first Pinzgauer Light Operational Vehicles on Thursday, 07 October 2004 at Trentham Military Camp, where the Minister of Defence, the Honourable Mark Burton, will officially accept the vehicles from manufacturer, Automotive Technik Ltd.

Also in attendance will be the Secretary of Defence, Graham Fortune, Chief of Army, Major General Jerry Mateparae, and Director and Group Chief Executive of Automotive Technik Limited, Allan Stanley.

Following the official handover and acceptance speeches, VIPs will be available for interviews. Media are welcome to photograph the Pinzgauer’s and take a ride on the vehicles through a forestry area.

The introduction into service of the Pinzgauer is a key project of the Army 2005 force modernisation programme and is a significant step toward a modernised Army with high quality equipment. Thirty Pinzgauer’s have already arrived in New Zealand, in which eight of these have been accepted through the acceptance testing process.

Media wishing to attend are required to RSVP to Rebecca Reedy on 04 496 0296 and be at Trentham Military Camp gates by no later than 0920 hours on the day.

SPECIFICATIONS
Comparisons Pinzgauer V8 Landrover
Height 2.045 m 1.99 m
Width 1.8 m 1.68 m
Length 5.308 m 4.445 m
Gross Vehicle Weight 4950 kg 2820 kg
Payload 2400 kg 1095 kg
Max Range 800 km 450 km
NZ ARMY PINZGAUER The introduction of the Pinzgauer into service is a key project of the Army 2005 force modernisation programme.

321 Pinzgauer Light Operational Vehicles are to be bought to replace the NZ Army’s 566 V8 Landrovers that were purchased in 1982. The total project will be completed in two tranches.

The Pinzgauer’s in Tranche 1 will come in five variants, including 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 vehicle versions.

Tranche 2 will be for a total of 133 vehicles consisting of 23 armoured C2 vehicles, 37 armoured weapon carrier vehicles, 42 non armoured C2 vehicles and 31 non armoured weapon carrier vehicles. There will be a need for some Landrovers to remain in service until the delivery of Tranche 2 has been completed, which is anticiapted to be towards the end of 2005.

Light Operational Vehicle’s are a range of off-the shelf light military vehicles that carry out command and control, liaison, replenishment, special force, evacuation and administrative tasks.

The vehicles require a high degree of off-road capability in order to operate in concert with the Light Armoured Vehicle (NZLAV) and Unimog trucks and will have similar off-road capabilities. An armoured varient of the Pinzgauer is needed to support troops in high-risk operations.

WHAT IS A PINZGAUER? A Pinzgauer is a light military vehicle originally designed and built in Austria. Since 2000, they have been manufactured in the UK. There are approximately 30,000 Pinzgauer vehicles in service in 24 different countries, including European, UK and US defence forces.

The Pinzgauer fleet consist of a range of 4 x 4 and 6 x 6 vehicles that can be configued for different roles including general service, command and control, special operations, and ambulance vehicles. The NZ Army is only purchasing 6 x 6 vehicle variants.

WHY DO WE NEED NEW VEHICLES? New vehicles are required to replace the Army’s ageing fleet of Landrovers, which in its current state is impacting on the Army’s ability to train and conduct exercises. The Pinzgauer’s will operate in conjuction with the NZLAV on operations as part of the requirement for a motorised Army. WHAT DO THE AUSTRALIAN ARMY HAVE? The Australian Defence Force has recently initiated a project to replace most of their wheeled vehicles. The Australian Light Operational Vehicle fleet consists of a range of Landrovers, which like the current New Zealand Landrovers, are nearing the end of their service life.

HOW MANY VEHICLES ARE WE BUYING? A total of 321 vehicles are being bought in two stages. 188 vehicles will be bought in the first stage and 133 vehicles (including armoured Pinzgauer’s) will be bought after further testing and analytical work.

HOW MUCH WILL THE PROJECT COST? The project will cost a total of $93 million. The purchase price includes the vehicles, training, publications, specialist test and tools equipment, spare parts, and project management costs.

WHAT PAYLOAD CAN THEY CARRY? Depending on the vehicle type, the Pinzgauer can carry up to 2400 kg (or 12 soldiers and equipment). This is more than twice the payload of the V8 Landrover and is therefore exceptionally economical.

ARE SPARES BEING PURCHASED? Yes, up to two years of spares will be purchased.

WHAT TYPES ARE BEING PURCHASED AND HOW MANY? The initial purchase of 188 vehicles includes:

95 x General Service (MV-GS) Vehicles The MV-GS will be utilised as a general utility vehicle with forward units. Its tasks will include conveyance of combat supplies, general administration, and resource movement.

57 x Command and Control (MV-C) Vehicles The MV-C provides a mobile command and control platform to coordinate the movement of units during operations and to provide communications with headquarters and other deployed forces.

13 x Special Operations (MV-SO) Vehicles The MV-SO will provide NZ Special Forces with a highly mobile and agile platform to conduct operations from. These vehicles will be able to be quickly task reconfigured to meet modern and diverse Special Force roles.

15 x Shelter (MV-S) Vehicles The MV-S will be fitted with electronic communications equipment and will provide technicians with a controlled environment in which to repair sensitive equipment during military operations.

8 x Ambulance (MV-A) Vehicles The MV-A is able of carrying four casualities on strechers and providing stowage for medical equipment.

WHAT ABOUT TRAINING? The first tranche contract included an agreement between the New Zealand Government and Automotive Technik Ltd (ATL) for manufacturer-provided training on Pinzgauer for NZ Army personnel. This training represents a critical step in establishing the NZ Army capability to operate and maintain the vehicles.

The full cost of the ATL manufacturer-provided training is to be met from the project budget, which is controlled by the New Zealand Ministry of Defence.

In order to de-conflict the introduction into service with the NZLAV, the Pinzgauer conversion training for both drivers and maintainers will be centred in Linton and Burnham.

“The Pinzgauer is, arguably, the finest extreme mobility vehicle available in the world today. Its legendary features include 100% gradeability fully laden, a massive 360 mm of ground clearance, a short wheelbase, differential locks on all wheels…no other vehicle offers such a unique combination of strength of construction, ease of use, protected components and ultimate extreme mobility. All-wheel-drive and the differential locks are activated by switches on the dashboard – and can be operated on the move.

One of the most critical considerations when selecting a vehicle for world-wide extreme mobility is the track width and overall envelope of space around the vehicle. The optimum size is defined as a track width of 1.5 m and a vehicle width of not more than 1.8 m.”

Automotive Technik Ltd

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