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MELBOURNE, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Australia said on Monday it would buy 1,100 light armoured vehicles from French defence and electronics firm Thales SA TCFP.PA for A$1.3 billion ($917 million).
Thales Australia won a competitive international tender with its locally designed and built Hawkei patrol vehicle, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in a statement, a boon for the struggling manufacturing industry in the state of Victoria.
The Hawkei will replace the heavier Bushmaster, also made by Thales in Australia, and will be the only vehicle in the Australian Defence Force that can be transported by helicopter, according to the prime minister's statement.
Full production of the Hawkei is due to begin in 2018, with pilot production beginning in early 2016. The fact that the new vehicle was lighter than the Bushmaster should give it "enormous potential" in the export market, Defence Minister Marise Payne said at a contract signing ceremony.
Vehicles made by U.S. defence giant General Dynamics Corp (NYSE:GD) GD.N and its Force Protection unit were also tested by Australia's defence force, according to The Australian newspaper.
($1 = 1.4180 Australian dollars)