Ventia wins $158M Defence Force engineering support contract

Project LAND 8120 Phase 1 seeks to provide a replacement capability effect for the Australian Defence Force earth moving and material handling equipment.

Ventia, a 50/50 investment partnership between CIMIC Group and its co-investor, has secured a contract with the Department of Defence Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) to deliver engineering support platforms for the Australian Defence Force (ADF), under Project Land 8120 Phase 1.

The contract will generate revenue to Ventia of $158 million over five years.

Project Land 8120 Phase 1 is an undertaking to replace existing earthmoving and materiel handling equipment within the Australian Defence Force with modified commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions with a high degree of Australian industry content and involvement.

Phase 1 involves Ventia leading a team of equipment manufacturers and local engineering specialists, to supply approximately 300 earthmoving and material handling vehicles. Minor modification will occur to meet specialist requirements such as air transportation.

Ventia has brought together a team of equipment partners including JCB CEA, Manitou, Liebherr Mobile Cranes, Komatsu and ECLIPS, and systems engineering specialist, QinetiQ, to offer the full breadth of services sought by the ADF.

Vehicles will undergo a rigorous verification and validation process to ensure that specific Defence requirements are met. Where required, specialist testing will be undertaken at the Australian Automotive Research Centre proving ground near Anglesea in regional Victoria before introduction into service.

Ventia will also provide vital integrated logistics support, develop operating manuals, maintenance specifications and other technical documentation, and deliver operator training at Defence sites nationally.

Ventia Group Executive, Defence and Social Infrastructure, Derek Osborn, said that Ventia’s selection was testament to its strong engineering and project delivery capability, and 30-year history as a Defence Industry partner.

“We are very proud to be taking this next step in our relationship with the Department of Defence. We look forward to working with CASG, and our contract partners, to deliver this essential capability for the ADF,” he said.

The deal has been welcomed by the equipment suppliers that will support Ventia under the program.

JCB CEA Chief Executive Hylton Taylor said this would be “the single largest sale of machinery JCB CEA has secured locally, and the largest sale of JCB machinery in Australasia.”

“We collaborated in a thorough and extensive vetting and tender process with the highly experienced infrastructure service provider, Ventia, who specialise in the long-term operation, maintenance, and management of critical public and private infrastructure,” Mr Taylor said.

As an equipment partner working with Ventia, JCB CEA will supply equipment from across seven JCB product platforms with a diverse range of machines including heavy line excavators, teleskids, wheel loaders, backhoe loaders, mini excavators, wheeled excavators and rollers.

JCB CEA will also assist with the development of product specific operating manuals, maintenance specifications and other technical documentation, and where required, deliver operator training programs at Defence sites nationally for optimum use of the supplied machines.

Ventia is an essential services provider in Australia and New Zealand, with primary capabilities in roads, telecommunications and utilities services. CIMIC and Apollo Global Management formed a 50/50 investment partnership in December 2014, merging the services businesses of Thiess and Leighton Contractors, as well as Visionstream, to create a new company that was renamed Ventia in 2015.

In 2020, Ventia acquired Broadspectrum, a Ferrovial-owned infrastructure services business which operates in Australia, New Zealand and parts of the Asia-Pacific region. The merger has already led to a 10.6 per cent group revenue growth for CIMIC as per the company’s half year 2021 financial report.

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