Hanwha Defence Australia and Rheinmetall Australia have each delivered three infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) to the Australian Army for testing as part of the Project LAND 400 Phase 3 Risk Mitigation Activity (RMA).

The Hanwha AS21 Redback and Rheinmetall KF41 Lynx IFVs will be subjected to test and evaluation assessment activities to determine which best meets the project’s requirement, with one of each of the vehicles to be subject to blast testing. The Lynx and Redback IFVs were shortlisted for LAND 400 Phase 3 in September 2019.

“These significant activities include Australian soldiers participating in user evaluation and testing, with a particular focus on the armour, firepower and mobility of the platforms,” Defence Minister Senator Linda Reynolds said in a statement. “The Risk Mitigation Activity will undertake important analysis on each vehicle’s ability to integrate with other key ADF land, sea and air capabilities, including amphibious lift.

At the conclusion of the two-year RMA, Defence will down-select its favoured IFV, and will eventually order up to 467 IFVs and manoeuvre support vehicles to replace the M113AS4 in Army service.