Outback 6×6 Comms

History

Parakeet was a bolt-on module rather than a factory Outback variant, so these vehicles were standard 6x6s converted to the role.

1 Combat Communications Squadron ran Parakeet vehicles of its own. REMLR's identification guide lists a 'Parakeet Communications Vehicle' but notes candidly that there appears to be no Army record of it as a distinct model - unsurprising given the classification of the role - and that the Parakeet module is a bolt-on unit that can be fitted to trucks as well as 4×4s, with modules even seen on dual-cab 6x6s. What the photographs show, then, is the shelter and its equipment: a boxed electronics module on the 6x6 tray, a folding satellite terminal dish on a pivoting mast frame with ground-anchored outrigger legs, cable runs to a separate generator, and the vehicle's own winch and bull bar left untouched underneath.