Defence has issued a request for proposals to industry to replace the ageing Mercedes Benz Unimog trucks in the domestic Garrison and Training Support vehicle fleet.
The information gathered through this process will be used to develop a final business case for Government consideration.
“Today’s request for proposals is focused on the procurement of at least 45 medium sized off-road trucks, which will become a critical part of daily New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) operations,” Sarah Minson, Deputy Secretary, Capability Delivery said.
“The Mercedes Benz Unimog has long been a trusty workhorse in the Garrison and Training Support vehicle fleet – but it is now more than 40 years old and is becoming increasingly unreliable and difficult to maintain.”
Defence is asking industry to also provide proposals for the full maintenance and through-life support of the fleet, across multiple NZDF camps and bases.
“NZDF will use the vehicles every day for training purposes, and for the transport of people and equipment within and between camps and bases. The trucks will also be an important transport vehicle during domestic search and rescue operations, and humanitarian and disaster relief missions,” Sarah Minson said.
The new fleet is not intended for offshore operations. Other projects such as the Protected Mobility Capability Project will deliver deployable vehicles. Read more here.
