24 May 2007

Jaguar Rover Australia (JRA) 6×6 Long Range Patrol Vehicle (LRPV), Australian Military Vehicle Walkaround

“There are some 27 LRPVs in service predominantly with the Special Air Service Regiment. The vehicle has an Isuzu turbo charged 3.9litre engine, front coil springs and springs at the rear. The vehicle has a mount for a 250cc trail bike on the back. The vehicle is normally armed with a MINIMI and an FN Mag 7.62mm machine guns and has several fuel tanks for long range patrols. The rear machine gun position is being changed to a gun ring as opposed to the earlier pedestal mount. The original pedestal mount had two ammunition box holders, one for 7.62mm ammo and the other for a larger box for what most probably was .50 calibre munitions.”

LRPV replacement: Nary SOV

New special operations vehicle named in honour of SASR Warrant Officer, Defence Media Release, 12 November 2006

“The replacement vehicle for SASR’s Afghanistan and Iraq workhorse, the Long Range Patrol Vehicle (LRPV) is to be named in honour of SASR Warrant Officer Class 2 David Nary who was killed in an accident during mission rehearsals on 06 November, 2005. The Nary SOV will replace Special Operations Command – Australia’s aging fleet of Land-Rover based LRPVs. ‘It will provide greater payload capacity with stronger drive-train, transmission and suspension components and provide an enhanced suite of command, control and communications equipment,’ Lieutenant-General Leahy said.”

JP 2097 Phase 1 – REDFIN (Enhancements to Special Operations Capability – Land Mobility Aspects), Defence Materiel Organisation

“JP 2097 (Redfin) Phase 1 seeks to enhance the ADF Special Operations capability and will introduce a range of specialised vehicles for Special Operations Command (SOCOMD) mobility requirements. The Special Forces (SF) mobility component of the capability consists of a range of combat and support vehicles for various special forces missions conducted by the Special Air Services Regiment (SASR) and the 4th Battalion (Commando), Royal Australian Regiment [4 RAR (Cdo)].

“Phase 1A is the accelerated procurement of a replacement for the SASR’s Long Range Patrol Vehicle (LRPV) with a new Special Operations Vehicle (SOV) to be designated the ‘Nary’. For reasons of operational urgency, the Minister has approved the sole-source acquisition of 31 vehicles from UK-based company Supacat Limited with an on-board management and communications system to be supplied and integrated by the US-based company Tactronics to satisfy the required SOV capability. An Initial Operational Capability (IOC) of 8 vehicles is to be available from December 2007.”