(Reuters) – Australia will sign an in-principle agreement to deliver more than 100 Australian-made Boxer armed carriers to the German military, in one its largest defence export deals, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in Berlin.
German defence contractor Rheinmetall started manufacturing the Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle in Australia’s Queensland state in March, under a contract to supply 211 vehicles to the Australian military, creating 1,000 Australian jobs over a decade.
The war in Ukraine has seen European nations replenish military equipment, resulting in the deal for Australia to export the German military technology back to Germany.
Albanese said Australia will “deliver over 100 Boxer armed carriers here to Germany”.
“It will guarantee that the one thousand jobs that are there in Queensland will go into the future and will be worth in excess of A$1 billion for the Australian economy,” he said.
Albanese will sign an in-principle agreement with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz when they meet to discuss defence and trade in Berlin on Monday, an Australian government official said.
Albanese will then attend the NATO leaders summit in Lithuania on Tuesday.
Australia has been invited to NATO as an Indo-Pacific Four partner, along with Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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