Hawkei

The Hawkei PMV is a light 4 x 4 protected mobility vehicle originally designed to meet an Australian Defence Force (ADF) requirement for a light armoured patrol vehicle to replace some of its Land Rover Perentie variants. In December 2011, the Australian Government announced Hawkei as the preferred vehicle option for development and testing under the Manufactured and Supported in Australia option for Project Land 121 Phase 4. The Hawkei is a highly mobile, highly protected, 7-tonne vehicle, with in-built systems to allow it to be used as a fighting platform. It has been developed with Vehicle Electronic Architecture to be mission system ready. Prime contractors include: Thales Australia, Boeing Australia, Plasan (Israel) and PAC Group.

History
As part of a wider project to replace the ADF's fleet of operational support vehicles, Project Land 121 Phase 4 – Protected Mobility Vehicle (Light) or PMV-L, is a requirement for up to 1,300 specialised light armoured vehicles replace some of the in-service Land Rovers. Key criteria for the project included: off-road mobility, integrated vehicle electronic architecture, substantial payloads, high levels of protection against land mines, improvised explosive devices and ballistic weapons while being light enough to be air transported by military helicopters. The three options considered as part of the project were:
 * Option 1, Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) Program - align the PMV-L requirement to the United States JLTV program to replaces its fleet of High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle or 'Humvee';
 * Option 2, Manufactured and Supported in Australia (MSA); and
 * Option 3, Market available –  pursuit of this option is subject to Australian Government decisions on Options 1 and 2.

Competitors for the MSA option included the combat proven MOWAG Eagle IV from General Dynamics Land Systems; the British military then selected Ocelot from Force Protection; and the Hawkei offering from Thales Australia. The JTLV option included entries from BAE Systems/Navistar, AM General/General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin.

In December 2011 the Australian Minister for Defence announced Hawkei as the preferred vehicle for further development and testing under the MSA option. Thales Australia CEO Chris Jenkins later commented on the success of the Australian-made vehicle against the other vehicles considered as part of project, stating "Up against the best vehicles in its class from US and European manufacturers, the Thales Hawkei has come out on top, which is a great vote of confidence in the skills of Australian defence industry."

Variants
All variants use the same four wheeled platform.

Command
Dual cab manned by a crew of four to six, weapons system options including up to 12.7mm guns or 40mm grenade systems in various mounts with a remote operated option.

Border Protection
Dual cab manned by a crew of four to six, various equipment options including force protection radar, surveillance and communications systems.

Special Operations Vehicle
Dual cab manned by a crew of four to six with up to three weapon systems:
 * Front co-driver swing mount;
 * Roof mounted manual gunring or remote weapon station; and/or
 * Rear facing swing mount.

Utility
Single-extended cab with a flat-bed cargo area measuring; L: 2000 mm x W: 2400 mm. The vehicle is manned by a crew of 2-3 and has a kerb weight of 6800 kg with a rated cargo load of 3000 kg. The load bed is designed to accommodate four 1000mm × 1200mm (40" x 48") NATO standard military pallets or a single tricon (one-third ISO 20 ft) container.