Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence (MILVEHCOE)

Rheinmetall Defence Australia has now established its Australia-New Zealand Headquarters and MILVEHCOE at Redbank in Ipswich from which it is delivering the $5.2 billion LAND 400 Phase 2 project.

More than 450 jobs are being created for Queenslanders both at the facility and through the local supply chain. The Queensland Government’s attraction of global defence giant Rheinmetall to Queensland is an economic and industry development game changer. The MILVEHCOE is expected to contribute more than $1 billion to the Queensland economy.

Under a long-term partnership, the Queensland Government used its extensive experience in the delivery of large capital works projects to oversee the construction of the MILVEHCOE on Rheinmetall's behalf.

Completed by Watpac well ahead of schedule in mid-2020, the $170 million state-of-the-art MILVEHCOE is the most advanced military vehicle manufacturing facility in Australia and an asset of national significance.

Rheinmetall's MILVEHCOE will manage the delivery and sustainment of the 211 Boxer combat reconnaissance vehicles (CRVs) under the LAND 400 Phase 2 contract. It will also manage the integration, support and upgrade of 3500 logistics vehicles under the LAND 121 Phase 3B and 5B contracts as well as Rheinmetall’s other defence projects for both the Australian Defence Force and our military allies.

Spanning 11 hectares, the MILVEHCOE features:

• manufacturing, electronics and administration buildings
• a corporate training centre
• an outdoor vehicle test track
• a 3-storey electromagnetic compatibility chamber
• a 100-metre fully enclosed weapons test firing tunnel
• car parking for employees and visitors, vehicle storage, refuelling and wash-down bays, water storage tanks, waste and recycling facilities.

The facility features some of the best technologies from across Rheinmetall’s entire defence business – electronics, electro-optics, armour, turrets, vehicles and simulators in addition to an impressive range of development and test facilities.

The 30,000m² production building is the engine room of Rheinmetall’s vehicle manufacture and sustainment activities. In addition to three simultaneous vehicle production lines, the building contains a weld shop, armoury, prototyping workshop, turret and simulator assembly, paint booths, heavy maintenance and a large warehouse area.

Rheinmetall has been shortlisted for the LAND 400 Phase 3 project estimated to be worth up to $27 billion. Should it be the successful tenderer, Rheinmetall will also manufacture up to 450 infantry fighting vehicles for the Australian Army at the MILVEHCOE.