Perentie 4x4 RFSV

Land Rover Perentie Regional Force Surveillance Vehicle (RFSV)

• Original Configuration RFSV's
• Upgraded RFSV's
• 48-002 IPV and RFSV Prototype
• 48-003 IPV and RFSV Prototype
• RFSV Registration Number Listings

Nomenclature: Truck, Surveillance, Lightweight, Winch, MC2
Liability Code: 73260/01
Role: This version is intended to carry up to 1200kg of payload with a driver and 2 passengers. Some applications will require the towing of a trailer up to 900kg mass.
Features: The vehicle is a ruggedised version of the basic soft-top derivative with additional stowage facilities for stores and equipment.

Information: Officially the Truck, Surveillance, Lightweight, Winch, MC2, Land Rover, built under Project Perentie. This vehicle was built to traverse the most inhospitable parts of Northern Australia. A number of features such as increased vehicle protection, modified rollover protection system, heavy duty split rims, extra fuel storage and spare tyres were included to make those crewing these vehicles as self sufficient as possible. Designed to carry 3 people and their equipment, fuel and water for prolonged periods of time whilst on patrol.

Initial Production vehicle 48-002 and 48-003 were the development vehicles for what became the RFSV, prototypes in essence. They were utilised as hacks and were left out in the sun for a number of years. In the end they were converted to the later RFSV standard and returned to regular service. Photos of these two vehicles can be found at the bottom of this page at various stages in their life. Both of these vehicles were also upgraded to the later RFSV specification, making them fairly unique vehicles to have existed in three distinct configurations.

Interestingly during the development of the vehicle it was refered to as the Regional Force Surveillance Unit (RFSU) however RFSV became the more common term used whilst it was in the Army.

Whilst there is only one RFSV model, the fleet undertook a number of upgrades and changes during it's lifetime, creating 2 vehicles reasonably different in appearance.  Changes included an upgrade to the ROPS, storage and seating system. Able industries won this tender and did the conversion work to 150+ RFSV's as a part of Project Overlander Phase 2A.  And as the number suggest, not all RFSV's were converted, and some of the first ones that appeared at the 2013 Australian Frontline Machinery Auctions were still in their original configuration as pictured below.

243 RFSV's were built under Project Perentie, and an additional 20 FFR With Winch vehicles were converted to RFSV standard. However 12 RFSV's were converted to SRV, then SRV(SF) and their ARN's changed to 203-xxx registrations.

Features of these models include:

RFSV

• Heavy Duty Split Rims
• Extended protection rails from brush bar
• 2x Spare tyres mounted inside the vehicle body
• 1x rear facing seat mounted centrally
• 4x jerry can storage on the outside, rear of the vehicle.
• 2x storage boxes in the tub of the vehicle
• Slightly taller ROPS
• a GVM of 3600kg, higher than the normal 3200kg of a regular Perentie 4x4.
• ROPS mounted boat rack
• Footwell air vents

Upgraded RFSV

• Heavy Duty Split Rims
• Extended protection rails from brush bar
• 2x spare tyres mounted outside the body on the LHS tail of the vehicle with number plate on the mount.
• 1x Rear Mounted seat with 5 point harness
• 2x jerry cans mounted on the LHS tail externally
• 2x storage boxes in the vehicle tub
• Modified ROPS with two cross braced hoops at the front of the vehicle with a short rack on the top outside the canopy
• a GVM of 3600kg, higher than the normal 3200kg of a regular Perentie 4x4.
• Footwell Air Vents
• Waist mounted equipment racks (removable)
• Step over pintle ring

It is a common problem that some models of the RFSV and SRV are difficult to tell apart.  These are some features that you can examine to tell them apart.

• A SRV Canopy has windows in the side, the RFSV canopy has no side windows
• The original RFSV has spare tyres mounted inside, whereas the SRV has them on the LHS Externally on the rear of the vehicle.  Upgraded RFSV's have the spares mounted externally on the LHS Tail, but the mounting differs
• SRV's have a definite step in the canopy from the windscreen to the first ROPS bar, whereas the RFSV slopes up to the bar
• SRV's have registrations in the 202-000+ range.  RFSV's are mostly in the 51-000+ range.