Project Waler: Australian AFV Procurement

The Australian Government placed orders for 817 or 840 M113 armoured personnel carriers in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The goal of Project Waler was to replace the Army's M113s with more capable armoured fighting vehicles.

After initial scoping work, proposals were sought from companies during 1981. These proposals were submitted in 1982, and further studies were undertaken in 1983.

While the scoping studies demonstrated that it would be feasible to build the vehicles in Australia, a planned tender to acquire them was not issued.

Instead, Project Waler was cancelled by the Australian Government in July 1985 due to concerns over the cost and capabilities of the proposed vehicles.

The M113s used by the Army's armoured reconnaissance units were replaced by ASLAV wheeled armoured fighting vehicles that were similar to the designs considered under Project Waler.

Most of the remaining fleet of M113s were upgraded.

Project Waler is sometimes cited as an example of a mismanaged Australian defence procurement process, with commentators noting that it had been over-ambitious and not enough emphasis was placed on keeping costs down.

The M113 upgrade project was also unsuccessful, with the resultant vehicles being unfit for combat, and the Australian Government launched a new project in 2018 to replace them.

The Army began considering acquiring Australian-built light armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) to replace its M113s in 1973, but formal work to explore this option did not commence until 1980.

Project Waler was authorised by Minister for Defence James Killen in April 1980. It aimed to replace the M113s with new light AFVs that were optimised for operations in Australia.

The first of these vehicles were to enter service in the mid-1990s.

The project was named after the Waler horses that had been used by Australian Light Horse units in the Middle East during World War I.

There was not universal support for Project Waler within the Army. Some elements of the service believed that acquiring new battlefield helicopters was a higher priority than replacing the M113s.

The government saw Project Waler as a significant opportunity for the Australian manufacturing industry to produce technologically advanced military equipment.

Building the vehicles in Australia was also considered to be an important element of the government's "policy of increasing self-reliance in defence".

Studies undertaken by the Department of Defence concluded that the Australian defence industry was capable of designing and producing the vehicles as long as some technologies were transferred from overseas.

The Department of Defence's annual report for the 1981–1982 financial year stated that "as long as practical" the Project Waler vehicles "are to be designed, developed and made in Australia".

Due to its strategic importance, Project Waler was also identified in 1983 as a procurement exercise where the government was willing to pay a premium for manufacturing the vehicles in Australia rather than importing them.

Project Waler was a feasibility study to develop and produce Australian-made AFVs.

The first phase of Project Waler began in September 1981 and 14 companies submitted proposals.

The three companies that were selected to further develop their designs were Australian branch of EASAMS, Evans Deakin Industries, and Goninan.

The Army favoured the designs which fully met its requirements, even though they would be the most expensive to produce.

In 1981, the Department of Defence began feasibility studies into the feasibility of manufacturing new armoured vehicles in Australia.

In 1984, the studies concluded that it would be feasible to build the vehicles in Australia.

In December 1984, the Minister for Defence, Gordon Scholes, announced that the studies confirmed that it would be feasible to build the vehicles in Australia.

In May 1985, the Department of Defence recommended that Project Waler be deferred by five years.

This was based on an assessment by the department that the Army's plans to obtain a large number of armoured vehicles were ill-founded.

Minister for Defence Kim Beazley shared this view, as he believed that the Army needed new armoured vehicles.