Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle The Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle or Infantry Mobility Vehicle is an Australian - built wheeled armoured vehicle . The Bushmaster is based on a design by Irish company Timoney Technology Ltd under a licence agreement with Perry Engineering in Adelaide ; that licence was sold , with permission granted by Timoney as required by the licence terms , to Thales Australia . Once the Bushmaster was selected by the Australian Army after trials in 1998 to meet the Bushranger project requirements , the range of variants was developed further by Thales Australia in Bendigo . Oshkosh Truck has a contract to provide support and would manufacture in the US if there was an American order . The Bushmaster is currently in service with the Australian Army , Royal Australian Air Force , Royal Netherlands Army and British Army . Design . The role of the Bushmaster is to provide armoured transport , with infantry dismounting from the vehicle before going into action . As the Bushmaster is only lightly armoured , the term Infantry Mobility Vehicle ( IMV ) distinguishes it from a heavier wheeled or tracked armoured personnel carrier , such as the ASLAV and M113 also in Australian service . The design replaced some troop carrier variants of the Land Rover Perentie . The Bushmaster is optimised for operations in northern Australia , and is capable of carrying up to 9 soldiers and their equipment , fuel and supplies for 3 days , depending on the type of variant . The vehicle is fitted with air conditioning and was once planned to have a cool water drinking system , but was omitted upon production due to cost constraints . After operational complaints the drinking water cooling system is being reconsidered for installation . The troop carrier variant of the Bushmaster is fitted with one gun ring . The forward gun ring can be fitted with a 5 . 56 mm or 7 . 62 mm machine gun . The two rear hatches each have a mounting boss to allow the attachment of a swing mount capable of holding a 5 . 56 mm machine gun ( such as the F89 Minimi ) . The Bushmaster is a mine protected vehicle and provides a high degree of protection against land mine s , using its v - hull monocoque to deflect the blast away from the vehicle and its occupants . The vehicle ' s armour provides protection against small arms of up to 7 . 62 mm calibre . The Bushmaster is air transportable by C - 130 Hercules , C - 17 Globemaster III and Mil Mi - 26 aircraft . Variants . Six Bushmaster variants are in production for the Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force . These variants are : The Troop variant being used by the Royal Australian Air Force originally differed from the Army variant in that it was fitted with 10 seats for infantry and a third weapon mount . All Troop variants are now fitted with 10 seats . Thales Australia has developed a civilian fire fighting variant of the Bushmaster called the FireKing and a military cargo carrying variant called the Armoured Combat Support Vehicle ( ACSV ) . This variant is currently being evaluated for service with the Australian Army under LAND 121 ( Project Overlander ) , which will see the replacement of up to 2 , 000 vehicles and trailers . According to the Australian National Audit Office , unit price for Bushmasters in 2000 differed slightly between variants , ranging from A $ 562 , 878 for the troop carrier variant and A $ 589 , 182 for the ambulance variant . Bushmaster in Australian service . In keeping with the vehicle ' s role and capabilities , the Australian Army designates Bushmaster equipped infantry units as being motorised , and not mechanised . Following the vehicle ' s troubled development , a total of 299 Bushmasters were ordered by the Wheeled Manoeuvre Systems Program Office of the Defence Materiel Organisation for the Australian Defence Force ( reduced from the 370 which were originally ordered ) . Bushmaster deliveries began in 2005 ( three years later than was originally scheduled ) and were scheduled to be completed in July 2007 . Deliveries of the troop carrier variant ( 152 vehicles ) were completed on 7 June 2006 . Deliveries of the command variant were completed by mid - 2006 followed by the delivery of the other variants . In December 2006 the Australian Minister for Defence announced that the Australian Bushmaster order has been increased and over 400 vehicles will be delivered . This figure was confirmed as 443 vehicles in a subsequent press release . In August 2007 an additional 250 were ordered for a total ADF delivery of 696 vehicles of all configurations . This was further increased in October 2008 to 737 vehicles for the Australian Defence Force . On 12 May 2011 the Australian government announced the purchase of an additional 101 Bushmasters , in order to replace vehicles damaged on operations and to provide additional vehicles for training and operational use . A further order for 214 vehicles was announced in July 2012 . The South Australian Forestry Corporation ( ForestrySA ) has ordered 15 FireKings . Deliveries of the FireKing to ForestrySA were completed in November 2005 . Australian Defence Force units equipped with the Bushmaster . The majority of Australia ' s Bushmasters are to be allocated to the Army , though 12 are operated by the Royal Australian Air Force ' s Airfield Defence Guards . The Bushmaster is operated by the following Army units : The Bushmaster is also operated by both the RAAF ' s Airfield Defence Squadrons . Each ADS is equipped with six Bushmasters . The Motorised Combat Wing of the Army ' s Combat Arms Training Centre provides initial training to Army and Air Force Bushmaster drivers . Maintenance training is provided by the Army Logistic Training Centre . Operational record . To date , Australia ' s Bushmasters have been deployed on five operations : While a full independent assessment of how well the Bushmaster has performed on these deployments is not yet available , Australian Department of Defence press releases and the Army ' s service newspaper have stated that the vehicles have proven successful . The Bushmaster ' s high degree of crew and passenger comfort has apparently been particularly appreciated in Iraq . In September 2006 the Australian Department of Defence announced that it was modifying its fleet of Bushmasters in response to criticisms from Australian soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan . These criticisms include concerns that the Bushmaster ' s gunner is exposed to enemy fire and the absence of a drinking water cooling system . The modifications will include fitting a CROWS remote weapon system ( RWS ) to at least some Bushmasters and developing an improved water cooling system . The protected weapons stations were installed to vehicles deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in early 2007 . The installation team comprised staff from Project Bushranger and the Army and was conducted in theatre . On 17 March 2010 , all five Australian soldiers from the 1st Mentoring Task Force who were occupying a Bushmaster were wounded , three of them seriously , when it was hit by a roadside bomb in the Chora Valley north of the main Australian base near Tarin Kowt in Oruzgan Province during a routine vehicle patrol . As of May 2011 , 31 Bushmasters have been damaged beyond repair while serving with the Australian Army . Exports . Thales Australia is currently marketing the Bushmaster for export . The Bushmaster has been trialled by the United Arab Emirates and exhibited in a number of trade exhibitions . The Bushmaster has been offered to Spain , and may also be offered to Iraq . To date , the Dutch Army and British Army have been the Bushmaster ' s only export customers . Bushmaster in Dutch service . In July 2006 the Dutch Government announced an urgent purchase of 25 Bushmasters to equip Royal Netherlands Army units operating in Afghanistan . Due to the urgency of this purchase these vehicles were taken from Australian Army stocks . Additional Bushmasters will be built to replenish the Australian inventory . 23 Bushmasters were directly delivered to Dutch Army units in Afghanistan starting from 28 August . The remaining two vehicles were transported to The Netherlands to be used for training purposes . Twelve of the Bushmasters were fitted with a Thales SWARM remote weapon station before delivery . 9 July 2007 , Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited was awarded a contract of A $ 5 . 8 million for the supply of remote weapon systems for use by the Netherlands army . The contract was awarded to EOS by Thales Australia for fitting to the Bushmaster Infantry Mobility Vehicles manufactured by Thales for the Netherlands army . The order entails 17 CROWS Remote Weapon Stations . It is expected that the first of these systems will be operational in theatre by August 2007 . On 20 September 2007 , during an engagement with the Taliban a 20 - year - old Dutch soldier was killed in action . His body was evacuated in a Bushmaster which was subsequently attacked with small arms , mortars and RPGs . The vehicle was struck several times but all soldiers in the Bushmaster survived and were unhurt . Since the vehicle was immobilized and still under attack , they were forced to abandon it . Since salvage was not possible the Bushmaster was later destroyed by a Dutch Apache helicopter . The troops were transported out of danger by a second Bushmaster IMV . On 19 October 2007 during a fire - fight between a Dutch patrol and Taliban insurgents , a Bushmaster was hit by an improvised bomb . Although none of the passengers were hurt , the bomb damaged the front of the Bushmaster . The Bushmaster has been sent to Kamp Holland ( the Dutch base ) for repairs . The Netherlands has ordered additional Bushmasters on several occasions in 2007 and 2008 . On 20 November 2007 the Dutch Defence Ministry announced that it would acquire an additional 10 vehicles to replace the two damaged and two destroyed vehicles and a Patria armoured vehicle which was also destroyed in Uruzgan . One vehicle will be sent to the Netherlands for training purposes , and the rest will go directly to Afghanistan . The Dutch ordered a further 13 Bushmasters in June 2008 , taking their total order to 49 vehicles . At this time six Dutch Bushmasters had been destroyed in Afghanistan . In January 2009 , another batch of nine vehicles was ordered . These vehicles will be fitted with cameras , sensors and a grappler to find and destroy Improvised explosive device s ( IEDs ) . A further 14 Bushmasters were ordered in June 2009 . In August 2009 , another 14 vehicles were ordered , bringing the total Dutch order to 86 . Bid for US sales . Thales has teamed with US truck manufacturer Oshkosh to market the Bushmaster in the United States . In late June 2007 it was prematurely reported that the United States military was close to placing an order for 1 , 500 vehicles as part of its MRAP program . This sale did not go ahead . The Bushmaster was officially removed from the MRAP contest on 7 August 2007 . United Kingdom . The United Kingdom purchased 24 Bushmasters in May 2008 . These vehicles were ordered by the United Kingdom Special Forces to provide Special Air Service units in Iraq with a MRAP vehicle suitable for use in urban areas . The Bushmasters sold to the UK were fitted with additional armour , electronics to counter IEDs and a . 50 calibre machine gun mounted in a RWS . Spain . In August 2008 it was reported that the Spanish Government was " showing strong interest in the Bushmaster " . France . In 2009 it was reported that the Bushmaster could compete for the VAB replacement program under the name of Broussard ( Bushmaster in French ) . In this competition , the Bushmaster will be competing against a lightened version of Nexter ' s VBCI and the Renault AMC . There is a requirement for 2 , 300 vehicles .