Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Australia (RMMVA) has confirmed the Queensland operations of Victorian steel fabricator Hilton Manufacturing as part of the LAND 121 Phase 3B/5B program.
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The announcement sees Hilton become one of a growing cohort of trusted local SMEs already supplying components and parts to RMMVA as it delivers more than 2,500 protected and unprotected military logistic trucks and modules to the Australian Army under the LAND 121 Phase 3B program.
To date, Hilton has secured more than $7 million of contracts for this project alone. Rheinmetall and Hilton announced the new contract at a signing ceremony held at Hilton’s Queensland manufacturing site.
The Commonwealth last year announced an extension to this successful program by contracting RMMVA to deliver another 1,044 high mobility logistics vehicles, 883 trailers and 748 modules to the Australian Army under LAND 121 Phase 3B/5B.
Under this new LAND 121 Phase 3B/5B contract, Hilton will supply range of fabricated steel parts and products for each vehicle. The value of the contract is more than $2 million.
"This contract underscores the continued standards of excellence at Hilton and its focus on working side by side with Rheinmetall," Rheinmetall Defence Australia managing director Gary Stewart said.
Hilton commenced business in 1976 and now operates from a modern factory in Dandenong in Melbourne’s south east. To meet increased business demands of customers in Queensland, Hilton established a second manufacturing plant at Wacol in Brisbane’s south west.
Hilton managing director Todd Hartley said the work carried out by the company’s 230 employees was growing in regard within Defence circles following the contracts secured with Rheinmetall.
This added significantly to its status as a preferred supplier to major truck manufacturers Volvo, Mack, Kenworth, Mercedes, Iveco and Western Star, Hartley said.
"We congratulate Rheinmetall and the Commonwealth for moving ahead with this new phase for the LAND 121 Phase 3B/5B program and look forward to working with the RMMVA team to deliver the best vehicles for the Australian Army,” Hartley added.
Stewart said Rheinmetall looked forward to announcing future local supply contracts for the LAND 121 Phase 3B/5B program and extending the successful partnership with existing Australian SMEs.
"Australian content is a critical part of Rheinmetall’s industry plan for Australia and will see the involvement of SMEs from around the nation," Stewart added.
Rheinmetall sets the global standard for excellence in a wide array of disciplines and offers an extensive array of military hardware that delivers mobility, lethality, survivability of troops, reconnaissance capability and networking of national and international systems.
Rheinmetall Defence Australia and New Zealand is a subsidiary of Rheinmetall AG, with offices in Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane.