Australia Takes Delivery of Military Mercedes-Benz G-Wagons

There are no many cars cooler then a Mercedes-Benz G-Klasse, just maybe a military version of the G-Wagon. Though this is undoubtedly true, we don’t think that coolness was one of the factors in the Australian Defence Force’s decision to order such vehicles. Either way, the Aussies have taken delivery of their first new Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon cross-country vehicles.

Mercedes-Benz locally delivered nine Austrian built vehicles, which are part of the the 1200-strong tactical fleet order placed by the ADF in October 2008.

The decision to buy such vehicles is also known as “Project Overlander”. As you might expect from Mercedes-Benz, the order has been treated very seriously. All vehicle units delivered to-date have been both on time and budget.

The Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon military vehicles being delivered to the ADF include:

• Four-wheel-drive station wagons;
• Four-wheel-drive cab-chassis units;
• Six-wheel-drive units in both single- and dual-cab chassis configuration.

The G-Wagons will be powered by the the German auto-maker’s proven 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 engine, despite the fact that a military AMG would have been seriously cooler. Mercedes-Benz will also provide some armour-kit which can be fitted when required.

This is not the first time the German manufacturer has been in business with the Australian Defence Force, as they also delivered to the ADF nimog cross-country trucks, Actros 8x8 fuel tankers, buses and vans. Mercedes-Benz recently participated in ADF’s trial of medium trucks. ADF tested the latest armoured Unimog, four- and six-wheel variants of the Zetros truck, and the massive armoured 8x8 Actros - nicknamed Optimus Prime.