By Dylan Welch
THE former defence minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, brought forward new fighting vehicles that have since been condemned as white elephants, despite vocal opposition from army headquarters.
The vehicles were bought for almost $50 million two years ago and are designed to replace ageing modified Land Rovers used by special forces soldiers.
Joel Fitzgibbon ... former defence minister.
They were expected to be in use in Afghanistan by late 2009 at the time of purchase, but have been delayed by two years due to technical problems.
The delay has been caused by problems with merging the vehicle, the British Supacat High Mobility Transporter, with US-made electronics and communications systems.
The Supacat - renamed the Nary by Australia after SAS Warrant Officer David Nary, who died in a 2005 vehicle training accident - is now not due to reach the battlefield until early next year.
The Defence Department purchased 31 Supacats in August 2008, after a team of officers from the SAS Regiment decided upon the Nary following a global search. But senior officers at army headquarters are understood to have expressed some concern about the Nary, particularly the ability to pair it with the US-bought electronic and communication systems bought by Defence.
They also had reservations about the Supacat's length, and whether they could fit the necessary amount of equipment on it.
''There were some reservations in army headquarters, despite special forces pushing [the Supacat option] hard,'' a senior army source said.
''There was some concern about the electronic fit, and some concern about the length and how much equipment you could get on them.''
But army headquarters was shut out of the decision and Mr Fitzgibbon sped up the purchase for ''reasons of operational urgency''. While that frustrated officers at army headquarters, they accepted the decision, given there was no realistic alternative to the Nary.
Yesterday a Defence spokesman said it was essential that the department took time enough to provide the right equipment to their soldiers, but acknowledged the delay. ''Due to a series of technical issues, the project is approximately 24 months behind schedule,'' he said.
''These technical issues included modification of the vehicle to carry a larger payload, to integrate the command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system, and increase the survivability of the vehicle.
''All major issues have now been rectified and the vehicle is currently undergoing a period of training and familiarisation with the regiment.''
Mr Fitzgibbon, now Chief Government Whip, did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.