W&E Platt is ready to hand over its new customised weapons-suite-equipped Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon 6×6 surveillance reconnaissance vehicle (SRV) to the Australian Army.
The company recently received a A$2.5m contract from the Australian Defence Material Organisation (DMO) to equip the army’s 200 G-Wagon 6×6 SRVs with front and rear weapon mounts under Phase 3A of its Project Land 121 programme.
Also covering spare parts packages and technical documentation, the contract follows comprehensive in-house design and engineering evaluations of the bespoke weapon mount solutions, including live fire trials of advanced prototype mounts in 2012.
Comprising a front rail mount for both left and right-handed gunners mounted on the upper dash structure for the vehicle commander, and a rear skate mount, the weapon mount fit is custom-designed for the unarmoured 300 CDI G-Wagon 6×6 SRV platform, according to the company.
Attached to vehicles’ rear stowage compartment, the rear skate mount enables the gunner to engage targets present left, right and rear of the vehicle. The gunner is only not able to engage targets to the front, where rotation stops restrict arcs of fire.
Each weapon mount is capable of accepting a Minimi 5.56mm light machine weapon or a MAG-58 7.62mm general purpose machine gun.
The G-Wagon is an all-wheel-drive vehicle designed to provide the Australian Defence Forces (ADF) with enhanced training capabilities required to prepare for operations in protected vehicles, disaster relief and coastal security missions. Deliveries under the contract are scheduled to continue through the first quarter of 2014.
Image: The Australian Army’s new G-Wagon 6×6 vehicle fitted with the front and rear Platt weapon mounts. Photo: Australian DoD.
