07 MARCH 2024 By: Robert Dougherty

Australian Army soldiers Lance Corporal Selina Schlimmer and Corporal Ash Werner drive the lead Hawkei light protected mobility vehicle across the Tasman Bridge from Hobart Airport to Derwent Barracks on Friday, 23 February 2024. Photo: Corporal Michael Currie

Four new Australian Army Hawkei light protected mobility vehicles have touched down at Hobart Airport as the first Hawkei vehicles delivered to Tasmania.

A Royal Australian Air Force C-17A Globemaster III aircraft from RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland delivered the vehicles to Hobart Airport in Tasmania on Friday, 23 February.

The vehicles were welcomed by Australian Army personnel from 12th/40 Battalion, Royal Tasmania Regiment, and other 4th Brigade units. Officials at the event included Commander of 2nd Australian Division Major General David Thomae and Commander of 4th Brigade Brigadier Michelle Campbell.

The vehicles have since travelled across the Tasman Bridge to the Australian Army’s Derwent Barracks in Glenorchy.

The Hawkei protected mobility vehicle – designed and built in Bendigo, Victoria, by Thales Australia, a subsidiary of the French defence company Thales Group – provides survivability, mobility, useability, payload, sustainability, and communications for the Australian Defence Force.