Thales Australia Unveils Prototype of Hawkei Vehicle

Thales Australia has unveiled its ground-breaking Hawkei prototype at the Land Warfare Conference in Brisbane. With over 20,000km of testing complete, the Hawkei’s rapid development from drawing board to working prototype is now a reality.

Chris Jenkins, Thales Australia’s CEO, said the company’s investment in the Hawkei and its close cooperation with world-leading partners had produced impressive results in a short timeframe.

“We’ve demonstrated that we can move quickly to develop a vehicle that is progressing very well in testing, thanks to the significant protected vehicles expertise we have gained from the highly successful Bushmaster program and the capabilities of our partners,” he said.

“Along with road trials, the Hawkei has also successfully passed a series of blast tests. “This achievement is the result of close collaboration with our partners Plasan Sasa, whose survivability systems expertise has been invaluable, as well as Boeing Defence Australia and PAC Group. All have been instrumental in ensuring the development program proceeds on schedule.”

The Hawkei has numerous advantages:

-- Large protected interior space for crew, equipment and stores
-- Four doors for easy access
-- Bushmaster levels of blast and ballistic protection
-- Advanced technology for rapid up-armouring in the field
-- Straightforward reconfiguration between variants
-- 7-tonne air-transportable combat configuration

In addition to the Hawkei’s technical advantages and low through life support costs, an expert development team with many years’ protected vehicle experience is available in Australia, guaranteeing dedicated customer service and supporting strategic Australian defence industry capability.


Thales is a global technology leader for the Defence & Security and the Aerospace & Transport markets. In 2009, the company generated revenues of EUR 12.9 billion (equivalent of AUD 22.7 billion) with 68,000 employees in 50 countries. With its 22,500 engineers and researchers, Thales has a unique capability to design, develop and deploy equipment, systems and services that meet the most complex security requirements. Thales has an exceptional international footprint, with operations around the world working with customers as local partners.