Image: Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman inspecting the combat vehicle prototype with Brett Whiteley in Burnie; courtesy of the Office of the Premier of Tasmania.
A Burnie manufacturing company is vying for a $2.7 billion Defence contract with the recent launch of a combat vehicle prototype.
If successful, the bid of manufacturing company Elphinstone Group, part of a consortium known as Team Sentinel, will create an estimated 150 jobs at Elphinstone and 20 at CBG Systems.
Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman marked the launch as a major milestone for Team Sentinel and Tasmania.
“This could be the emergence of another competitive strength [for Tasmanian] Defence manufacturing,” the Premier said. “Earlier this year, we launched Our Fair Share of Defence Strategy. This strategy will target our fair share of Defence spending by attracting, enabling and building Defence industries in the state and promoting Tasmania as both a military supplier and a port of our Southern Ocean responsibilities.”
Engineers Australia Tasmania General Manager Dr Vicki Gardiner is pleased to see the government supporting the bid.
“In the recent Tasmanian Engineering Workforce Development Strategy, it was identified by industry that the Tasmanian engineering profession is competing, collaborating and supplying services in an international field,” Dr Gardiner said.
“This impacts the skill set needed of engineers to survive and thrive in this market place.
“It is great to see Team Sentinel utilise the expertise at Elphinstone and CBG.
“If successful, this project will build capability in the Tasmanian Defence and advanced manufacturing sectors and secure a best in class workforce for the future of these industries.”
Elphinstone would play a key role in building the hull of the high-tech Sentinel II vehicle, while CBG Systems in Hobart would contribute its stealth blanket technology.
It is estimated that each of the new 400 armoured vehicles would cost up to $7 million to build.
The Defence Land 400 project, the world’s largest armoured vehicle project, will acquire the next generation of armoured fighting vehicles, delivering replacements for the Australian Light Armoured Vehicle and M113 Armoured Personnel Carrier fleets.
The state government will continue to support Team Sentinel through the many stages ahead in the bid, with the possibility that Australian soldiers could be driving the Sentinel II from 2020.
“I am looking forward to seeing Team Sentinel progress through the stages of the bid and develop Tasmania’s Defence industry,” Dr Gardiner said.