Hawkei

Hawkei in the light cavalry role will add another string to our bow in terms of what the capability can do. We’ve got a bunch of units out there in the Reserve brigades that can take the vehicle and harness it and add extra capabilities inside Army’s suite of options. So we’re really excited about what 13 Brigade’s about to do with this platform ...

Army Headquarter’s Director General – Platforms, Brigadier Jeremy King

Hawkei in the light cavalry role will add another string to our bow in terms of what the capability can do. We’ve got a bunch of units out there in the Reserve brigades that can take the vehicle and harness it and add extra capabilities inside Army’s suite of options. So we’re really excited about what 13 Brigade’s about to do with this platform, but more broadly the opportunities to adjust and expand how we make the best use of this platform. We’re getting 1,100 of these vehicles at this point in time and whilst we have traditional protected mobility roles already allocated it would be remiss of us under the Army Objective Force not to fully exploit the capabilities that it offers

Army Headquarter’s Director General – Platforms, Brigadier Jeremy King

The Hawkei vehicle is produced by Thales Australia. It is the first vehicle that I am aware of—possibly the first vehicle in the world—that is built to be digitally wired in the same conceptual fashion as you see in the wiring of a modern aircraft glass cockpit ...

Testimony from Lt Gen. Campbell

The Hawkei vehicle is produced by Thales Australia. It is the first vehicle that I am aware of—possibly the first vehicle in the world—that is built to be digitally wired in the same conceptual fashion as you see in the wiring of a modern aircraft glass cockpit. The loom of wiring and the computer systems that enable our combat system and radios to be applied is the first part of design of the vehicle, not the last add-on that you then have to spend a lot of time trying to integrate and reconfigure. It very much speaks to where we can be in the future with vehicle systems design and bringing a lot of the ideas that we see in air and naval platforms into ground combat vehicles.

The system that Hawkei provides for us is a protected capsule for the occupants, with a light mobility vehicle that typically carries between four and six people, surveillance systems, radio systems and our own combat systems—so very situationally aware of our forces and known adversary forces and able to be a communication, data and command-and-control hub as much as operate in a general ground transport utility and, to a degree, a surveillance role. It is a very versatile vehicle, at the leading edge globally of this kind of capability. The armour systems allow you to add or take off the armour, depending on the environment, and it has a very high level of protection for the occupants. I am delighted with what has been produced, what we are seeing coming into service, and I think it has very significant potential for international export, subject to all of the export controls that were discussed earlier.

Testimony from Lt Gen. Campbell

The Hawkei will improve protection for soldiers and enable them to operate in high-risk areas. It is the only protected mobility vehicle in the ADF that can be transported by ADF helicopters ...

Confirmed by Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, in 2015

• The Hawkei will improve protection for soldiers and enable them to operate in high-risk areas. It is the only protected mobility vehicle in the ADF that can be transported by ADF helicopters.
• The vehicles will also pioneer a next generation communications management system.
• The vehicle will be equipped with weapons and systems that will provide unparalleled situational awareness and lethality for a vehicle of this size and weight.
• Since 2004, the Thales assembly line has been producing the highly successful Bushmaster, widely recognised as one of the finest vehicles of its type in the world.
• The men and women of our armed services are entitled to the best equipment we can provide them to do their job and do it well, to faithfully defend our nation and our national interests. The Hawkei has met this mandate.

Confirmed by Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, in 2015