The ASLAV is a highly mobile, eight-wheel drive armoured fighting vehicle that can be deployed by land, sea or air, in Royal Australian Air Force C-130s or C-17s. It is fitted with GPS, an intra-vehicular navigation system and a radio harness capable of supporting HF, VHF, UHF and digital radios.
The ASLAV is capable of speeds of 100 km/h (62 mph) and has a maximum range in excess of 660 km (410 mi). The eight-wheel drive provides excellent cross-country mobility and redundancy. The vehicle is capable of operation with only four working wheels, and can continue to operate with eight punctured tyres through the use of solid-core run-flat tyres. It is no longer a fully amphibious vehicle.
The ASLAV fleet comprises a number of specialist purpose-designed variants built in three distinct hull configurations.
The ASLAV Type I is the most numerous type. It is a turreted vehicle derived from the LAV-25 and comes in only one variant.
The ASLAV Type II has no turret and greater internal capacity and is derived from the Canadian Bison Armoured Personnel Carrier. The ASLAV Type II has a crew of two (commander and driver) and is armed with a pintle-mounted M2 12.7 mm machine gun. In a number of vehicles, the standard machine gun pintle mount is replaced by a Kongsberg Protector remote weapon station (RWS), which can accommodate either a 12.7 mm machine gun or a Mk 19 40 mm automatic grenade launcher. Using a common hull design installed with interchangeable Mission Role Installation Kits (MRIKs), it can be converted into any one of four variants.
The acquisition of the ASLAV family of vehicles for the Australian Army was managed by Defence Materiel Organisation under the multi-phased LAND 112 project. The vehicles were similar to those considered by the Australian Army to replace its M113 armoured personnel carriers in the early 1980s under Project Waler.
In December 1997, the Australian government approved the acquisition of an additional 150 vehicles, later amended to 144. Under LAND 112 Phase 3, the initial contract with the Canadian Commercial Corporation was amended at a cost of A$286.37 million for an additional 144 newly built, improved Phase 3 ASLAVs, an upgrade of the Phase 2 fleet to Phase 3 standard and the provision of supporting ancillary equipment. The Phase 3 vehicles had enhanced offensive capabilities and crew protection, including new electric turret drives, improved thermal sights, integrated laser range finder, a second generation drive line and new suspension components.
In the preparations for deployment to Iraq in 2003, 10 ASLAV Type IIs and Type IIIs were fitted with the Kongsberg Protector RWS. In total 59 systems were acquired from Kongsberg for A$17.9 million and fitted to vehicles operating in Iraq and Afghanistan. Further upgrades to crew protection for vehicles deployed to Iraq occurred with the fitting of bar armour and internal spall liners to better withstand blasts, small-arms hits and fragmentation.
The ASLAV equips two squadrons from each of the Australian Army's Armoured Cavalry Regiments, the 1st Armoured Regiment in Adelaide, the 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Townsville, and the 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment (Queensland Mounted Infantry) in Brisbane, as well as the School of Armour at Puckapunyal.
The Australian Army's ASLAV fleet saw continual operational service from 1999 to 2013.
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