Australian Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles (PMV) in Afghanistan had their protection improved during a recent in-theatre upgrade by a Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) team.
A four-man PMV Upgrade Program team completed the enhancements over a six-week period.
Team Leader, Major Craig Byrne, said the upgrades bolstered force protection against a range of threats in the Afghan environment and would provide long-term safety without impacting the capability of the Bushmaster.
“These upgrades have been applied to all PMVs used in Afghanistan as well as reserve vehicles. In all, twenty-six vehicles have been upgraded so far with more than 100 specialised parts installed”, he said.
“The upgrades are the result of significant research and development and from feedback from personnel in theatre over recent years.
“In simple terms, we are providing ‘bolt on’ solutions from our lessons learned and will build further on this machine’s fine reputation.
“I have no doubt these upgrades will improve safety for personnel in theatre for everything from Improvised Explosive Devices to direct fire.”
The team included chief technical advisors to the PMV Upgrade Program, vehicle mechanic Geoff Molles, fitter Greg Tatt and inventory manager Damien Miley.
Each upgrade package took about two days to complete on each vehicle.
