Today I announced that we've begun the first phase of a vital vehicle replacement project.

The Protected Mobility project has initial funding of $18.6m. This will go towards procuring new light ATV style vehicles and will also fund the first stage of scoping for a replacement of the Armoured Pinzgauer.

For the Light Vehicles, Defence is considering the procurement of the Polaris MRZR, which is a militarised version of the side by side All-Terrain Vehicles that are in widespread use across New Zealand.

For the Pinzgauer replacement, our Special Forces have Bushmaster vehicles for this purpose, so initially we'll be working with the Australian Defence Force to see if that style of vehicle would suit wider use in the NZDF.

Making sure our people have the right equipment to do the job we ask them to do, perform with distinction and come home safe is incredibly important to me. This project, alongside the ones we've already announced, will go a long way to achieving that goal.

It's yet another example of this Government making huge progress updating and modernising our Defence Force.

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