ATL and ADI sign Pinzgauer teaming agreement for Overlander

British vehicle manufacturer Automotive Technik Ltd (ATL) has signed a teaming agreement with ADI Ltd licensing ADI to manufacture the Pinzgauer light military all-terrain vehicle in Australia and market it in Australasia and the Pacific Rim.

The agreement was signed by Alan Stanley, Managing Director, ATL, and Bob Simpson, Director, Land Engineering & Vehicles, ADI, in September in the presence of the defence minister, Senator Robert Hill, who was visiting Pinzgauer¹s UK manufacturing facility in Guildford, Surrey.

"This agreement is an important step in our strategy of increasing the export potential of the Pinzgauer and building on its success in the Asia Pacific region following the selection of the Armoured variant by the New Zealand armed forces," said Alan Stanley.

"The Pinzgauer is an outstanding vehicle in its class and ADI is pleased to be able to strengthen its sales potential in the Asia Pacific region," said Bob Simpson.

The Pinzgauer has been chosen to fulfill a wide range of operational military and special forces roles throughout the world due to its rugged construction, high payload for its size, multi-role versatility and outstanding all-terrain mobility. Designed originally by Steyr-Daimler-Puch in Australia, ATL took over the production of the Pinzgauer in the UK in 2000 and since then has introduced significant developments and improvements. Latest variants incorporate features including ABS (anti-lock braking system), EBD (electronic brake distribution) and ETC (electronic traction control).

The Pinzgauer will be offered by ADI to meet the Light and Lightweight vehicle requirements in Army's Project Land 121 - Overlander, for which an RFT was due before the end of 2005. ATL was recently acquired by American truck manufacturer Stewart & Stevenson which is also teamed with ADI to offer its range of trucks for the medium and heavy element of Project Overlander.

Over 100 DURO vehicles for the UK
The UK's Defense Procurement Agency has ordered a further 35 multipurpose military-type DURO vehicles from MOWAG GmbH. This is the third British Army order within the last nine months. In total, 101 DURO vehicles have been ordered. Following completion of production and delivery of these three contracts, 198 DURO will be in operation in the UK.

The DURO is expected to be offered by General Dynamics Land Systems (Australia) as a contender for Defence's Project Land 121 - Overlander.

At the beginning of 2003 MOWAG (which is owned by General Dynamics Land Systems) took over the DURO business from Bucher Industries. During the past two years MOWAG has further developed the original vehicle concept and is now present in the important 12 tonne market segment with the DURO III.

Of the 198 vehicles ordered or already delivered by/to the UK, 124 are the smaller DURO II version with a maximum GVW of 9 tonnes, of which 6 vehicles are for ammunition disposal (mine clearance and bomb disposal) and 118 vehicles as carriers of communications systems.

Of the 66 larger DURO III vehicles, 48 will also be applied as communications vehicles, whereas 18 DUROs will be equipped for bomb disposal. A number of these DUROs are already in operation with the British Army in Iraq for bomb disposal missions.

Apart from the UK, in 2004 and 2005 Germany has already acquired a total of 30 of the further developed armoured DURO III P vehicles. These vehicles have proven their performance and reliability in Peace Keeping missions with the German Bundeswehr in Afghanistan. Based on the good experience gained in Peace Keeping missions abroad, MOWAG GmbH expects further orders from both the UK and Germany.

The CEO of MOWAG GmbH, Simon T. Honess, stated: "The three current contacts are proof of the customer's trust in the performance and reliability of the DURO, as well as the real partnership between the British procurement agencies and MOWAG GmbH."

This is reflected in the fact that MOWAG is the only non-British company with a long-term Option Contract with the DPA.