What is a Bushmaster? We drive the Australian-built armoured vehicle

At the request of Ukraine President Zelensky, Australia will support Ukraine forces with a number of Bushmaster military vehicles. So, what is a Bushmaster?

News this week saw Australia commit to supply a number of Bushmaster vehicles to aid the conflict in Ukraine. So what is a Bushmaster?

Designed to be used by the Australian armed forces, and built in Bendigo by Thales (formerly ADI – Australian Defence Industries), the Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle is a four-wheel-drive armoured troop transport. Development started around 1996 and the first vehicles entered service in 2005.

Back in March 2008, Tony Davis had the chance to take a Bushmaster for a spin…

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No matter what sort of four-wheel-drive you own, this week I win. Let’s run through a few stats: weight 13 tonnes, length 7.1 metres.

Ground clearance is everything you’d expect, while the diesel engine is a more than sufficient 7.2 litres.

Height: 2.65 metres with the standard gun ring, or 3.26 metres if you tick the box for that very stylish “wire cutter” option.

There’s enough armour to protect from machine guns or a 9.5-kilogram TNT blast. And with the Bushmaster armoured personnel carrier, there’s no need to feel guilty about shipping money offshore. It’s Australian designed and built.

The fuel economy’s an issue, I agree. The 300-litre tank delivers only about 600 kilometres on the highway.

In the soft sand of Afghanistan, where the Bushmaster has achieved a strong share of the heavily contested mine-resistant vehicle market, fuel use can quadruple. Yes, we’re talking 200 L/100km.

Then again, try carrying nine people and their equipment across a Taliban-controlled dune in a Toyota Prius.

Furthermore, as Captain Dan Le Breton (senior instructor, Motorised Combat Unit), points out by way of comparison, with an Abrams tank it takes 27 litres of fuel just to start the engine.

Bushmasters have been attacked in combat zones. The underside is V-shaped and bits of the vehicle are designed to blow away to defray some of the impact. The Bushmaster hasn’t always looked very stylish afterwards or even run.

“The important thing is whether the crew survived,” Le Breton says, “and in each case they did. In other vehicles coming up against those same explosives they wouldn’t have.”

At the enormous Puckapunyal army base in Victoria, Le Breton hops into one Bushmaster and Corporal Nick Lincoln joins me in another.

There’s only one door, at the back, and an aisle runs between two rows of inward-facing seats towards the cabin. It’s hard to climb in the front gracefully; there are so many hard things to hit. You slide in feet-first then strap yourself into a racing-style bucket seat designed to hold you in place in the worst driving conditions in the world.

Performance off the mark is leisurely, something to do with getting 13 tonnes off and running. The real excitement comes in a corner, when those same 13 tonnes show a strong desire to go straight ahead, even when you use the steering wheel to suggest your own preference for doing otherwise.

The weight is high up too, adding to the adventure. But it’s the first vehicle I’ve driven where, if you hit a decent-sized tree, the decent-sized tree loses.

Indeed I can imagine doing a barrier test with this vehicle and discovering that the barrier received only a two-star rating.

Rear visibility is near to non-existent but basic driving is easy, thanks to automatic transmission and conventional controls. Road noise isn’t a problem, unless you want to talk or think. A sign on the dash says that, above 40kmh, hearing protection must be worn.

We chat through an intercom system, the corporal explaining various features and setting various challenges, such as staying in my lane under heavy braking.

With only two people and no weapons aft, the back lifts and locks. From 60kmh it takes mighty steering inputs not just to keep within your lane, but to stay in the same postcode.

We made our way past rows of marching infantrymen. We even criss-cross with an Abrams tank, presumably on its way to something other than an Energy Efficiency Challenge.

We are heading for what is known, with appropriate irony, as the “kindy circuit”. This tight collection of near vertical hills, spire-like crests, muddy ditches and water crossings would be hard work in most serious 4WDs. The Bushmaster just eats it up.

I take it fairly cautiously, then the corporal shows just how quickly it can be done if you are used to handling so much shifting weight on a squishy surface.

He then throws the mother of all donuts, either to show just how quickly the Bushmaster can change direction or because he can. Who dares, grins.

The top speed is 110kmh, the price is confidential but I suspect $1 million or so, plus dealer delivery, would cover it. For that, there are plenty of clever features. The tyre pressure, for example, can be raised and lowered from inside the vehicle to suit conditions.

So is it fun? I’m not at liberty to reveal that. But, off the record, hell yes. Attribute that to someone close to military circles, please.

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