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Philip Smart |Adelaide

New Zealand has accepted the last of 194 vehicles and specialist trailers acquired from Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Australia for the new Medium and Heavy Operational Vehicles fleet (MHOV).

The fleet includes 6-tonne (4x4) 9-tonne (6x6) and 15-tonne (8x8) platforms in ten variants. All can be can be fitted with applique armour, weapon mounts and a communications fit whilst specialist vehicles are fitted with a range of mechanical handling equipment or bodies such as cranes, palletised load handling equipment, load sensors and winches. Specialist variants include dump trucks and tractor units.

New Zealand has deployed elements of the MHOV fleet to Australia via strategic sealift ship HMNZS Canterbury to participate in Exercise Talisman Sabre, the biennial combined Australian and United States training activity. New Zealand and Japanese forces will be taking part for the first time. The exercise is designed to train the respective military forces in planning and conducting Combined Task Force operations to improve the combat readiness and interoperability between forces. RMMVA will provide logistic support for New Zealand’s trucks during this exercise.

Chief of the New Zealand Army, Major General Dave Gawn, said the MHOVs were a major leap forward in capability and technology for the NZDF.

“Across a range of employment contexts, the MHOV offers us a significantly enhanced logistics and movements capability as a land force for the future,” he said. “Further to the normal troop and equipment carrying roles, additional vehicles are fitted with winches and cranes which will enable fully independent operations.”

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