The final LAND8120 Medium Dozer and Graders were recently accepted by Defence, ahead of schedule. The 21 Komatsu GD655-7 graders and 22 Komatsu D65EX-18 Medium Dozers will provide the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with modern earthmoving capability.
The graders offer precision levelling and advanced control whereas the Medium Dozers - which were delivered with either a winch to assist with vehicle recovery or a ripper for breaking hard ground - deliver powerful performance, ideal for rough terrain and heavy workloads.
Komatsu, working with Ventia and Engineering subcontractor QinetiQ, developed the design and undertook detailed engineering analysis required to meet the ADF’s air transport requirements. All this work, including the physical modifications to the vehicle, was undertaken in Australia, developing this important capability in country.
Working with our partners at CASG, we identified an opportunity to align Dozer and Grader activities through significant modifications to the delivery approach. This allowed efficiencies in engineering certification activities, reduced the training burden on Defence personnel and allowed the delivery of a trained Grader capability almost 12 months ahead of schedule.
This is just one example of the benefits delivered by the strong collaborative partnership across the CASG and Ventia team.