On September 1 st , Thales/ADI delivered 2 of the 25 Bushmaster vehicles that will be deployed by the Netherlands Armed Forces for their mission in Afghanistan.

The ceremony took place in Schaarsbergen - the Netherlands and was attended by the State Secretary of Defence, representatives of the Ministry of the Defence and the end-user, the Netherlands Armed Forces, joined by Thales' and ADI's representatives. At the moment of the ceremony, 12 Bushmasters had already been delivered in Afghanistan.

This is the first export order for Bushmaster. The vehicle is specifically designed to rapidly deploy battle-ready troops in all field conditions. It provides a high level of troop protection, comfort, all-terrain agility and easy maintainability.

The Bushmaster is equipped with the Thales SOTAS M2 multi-media communication system. Thales will also supply 12 SWARM remote control weapon systems and a full logistics package for these systems.

This is the second contract in a short time Thales has been awarded by the Netherlands' Government for its expeditionary mission in Afghanistan. Thales is proud of the trust the Government has in its ability to contribute to the success of this mission. After the ultra-quick development of the DISCUS compound security system the present contract again demonstrates Thales capability to respond in a flexible and pragmatic manner to its customer's requirements.