Australian tactical watercraft manufacturer The Whiskey Project Group (TWPG) has successfully delivered the first two 11-metre Whiskey Bravo Multi-Mission Reconnaissance Craft (MMRC) to the United States Marine Corps (USMC) at the Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Pendleton in Southern California, the company announced on 16 April.
TWPG noted that the two Whiskey Bravo MMRCs have been accepted by the Marine Corps War Fighting Lab (MCWL) and are being used by the reconnaissance Marines to host and trial different mission payloads.
The company added the watercrafts were delivered under a US$20.5 million contract that provisions for an undisclosed number of 8-metre Whiskey Alpha and the 11-metre Whiskey Bravo MMRCs.
“From the very outset, The Whiskey Project Group’s mission was to redefine tactical watercraft and create a new generation of safer, completely networked, combat-ready fit for purpose platforms, based on our own naval special operations experience,” said TWPG co-founder and CEO Darren Schuback.
“We’re extremely appreciative of the US Department of Defense and USMC’s focus on innovation-sharing opportunities with life-long allies like Australia,” added Schuback. “The contracting process enabled by DIU makes it easier for private sector companies to rapidly fill real time capability gaps faced by war fighters and combatant commanders.”
TWPG noted that the USMC Whiskey Bravo MMRC incorporates almost 50 US and Australian original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), including a range of mission systems such as sensors, modular mission sets and intelligence surveillance reconnaissance (ISR) equipment.
The company added that it will continue to pursue opportunities in Australia, such as the LAND 8710-3 programme which seeks to develop new watercraft for the Australian Army’s reconfigured littoral manoeuvre brigade.
by Jr Ng
