THE Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) has increased its fleet of vehicles and, by extension, fortified its security scope with the addition of the protected mobility vehicle squadron.

The protected mobility vehicle squadron currently of consists of nine Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles and a main squadron building that were blessed and commissioned into service at a ceremony held at the JDF’s Up Park Camp base in Kingston last Wednesday.

The vehicles, three of which were on display at the ceremony, were built by Thales Australia — a subsidiary of the French multinational company Thales group.

The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller, who was also the keynote speaker; Minister of National Security Peter Bunting; Finance and Planning Minister Peter Phillips; representatives from Thales Australia, along with JDF personnel.

According to commanding officer of the Protected Mobility Vehicle Squadron, Rudolph Reynolds, the vehicles were acquired through the government of Jamaica and were built and shipped from Australia.

“These vehicles are very adaptable and very flexible they are able to operate under different environments, so it could be internal security, it could be disaster relief, search and rescue after a disaster, it could be VIP protection or escort; so there are a plethora of roles that these vehicles could play, hence the importance of these vehicles to the JDF and to Jamaica,” Reynolds stated.

He added that the main squadron building will be used for administrative as well as classroom activities, in addition to housing soldiers.

“Thales has built a strong relationship with the JDF since 2008 and deliveries started in 2015. Over 1,000 Bushmasters are in operational service in six nations around the world — in Australia, Asia, Europe and now the Caribbean. We are immensely proud that the JDF has selected the Bushmaster protected [mobility] vehicle,” Kevin Wall, vice-president of Thales Australia and New Zealand, remarked.

“As publicly disclosed by both Australia and the Netherlands, no soldier has been killed in Bushmasters, despite a large number of these vehicles being subject to improvised explosive device and small arms attacks in the Middle East and Africa,” he continued.

Wall added that this is testament to the design of the Bushmaster, which he stated has a very high level of mobility, ballistic and blast protection.

Each vehicle weighs about 12 tonnes, is capable of carrying up to 10 people with their arms and equipment, and was designed to carry additional life support equipment, fuel and logistics supplies.

The Bushmaster is also fitted with a Central Tyre Inflation System, and the vehicle’s armour provides protection against small arms fire and also houses an automatic fire suppression system.

The last three Bushmasters, part of the Protected Mobility Vehicle Squadron, are slated to arrive in the island shortly.

— Javene Skyers