Johannesburg, May 24, 2005

Italy has ordered 30 South African public order vehicles for use by its paramilitary Carabinieri police, the vehicle manufacturer said on Tuesday.

The order, from Iveco Defence Vehicle Division (DVD) with BAE Systems' Land Systems OMC division, is for 30 RG-12 troop carriers worth some R64m.

Deliveries will take place from early next year.

The order came as Land Systems OMC prepared to deliver the remaining five of six custom-built pre-production vehicles - part of an overall contract for up to 200 of the RG-12s, won by Land Systems OMC in partnership with Italy's Iveco DVD in mid-2004.

The Italian order comes close on the heels of other major orders from the US and Sweden.

Sweden last week ordered 102 RG-32M armoured patrol vehicles in a deal worth almost R180m. In February the US Army ordered 148 RG31 medium mine-protected vehicle costing about R507m.

With increasing international demand for its armoured and peacekeeping vehicles, Land Systems OMC is experiencing a major upturn in vehicle production and job creation, the company said in a statement.

The company believes the production order is a result of the powerful partnership that has grown between Land Systems OMC and Iveco DVD, and the RG-12's superiority as a public order vehicle.

However, previous media releases have linked the Italian and Swedish deals to offsets related to the strategic defence package.