Future products

RHS Offroad Engineering has an aggressive strategy towards innovation and product development.

Accessories

The range of accessories will continue to be expanded at a fast pace.

Bespoke 4x4 vehicle

The overarching goal of the business is to bring an innovative 4x4 vehicle to market. Vehicles currently on the market and coming to market are heavily suboptimal. Since childhood I have gained experience in off road travel in a 4x4, learnt relevant skills and thought about how to best design 4x4 vehicles. A few years ago I laid out a 4x4 vehicle design containing a flood of new and proven ideas, all heavily integrated. It is being continually evolved to stay at the cutting edge of what can reliably be achieved. The vehicle is suitable for use for everyday general transport, recreation, off road expeditions, trades, mining, farming, emergency services, defence general purpose, defence special purpose, defence special forces, and off road racing. A wide use case brings higher production volumes, which enable lower manufacturing costs.

A key next step is the production of a prototype. The design requires much less investment to produce than is typical and is suitable for low or high volume manufacture. I am currently aiming to raise one million dollars in order to produce a good prototype from which customer deposits, contracts, letters of intent, memorandums of understanding and further funding can be obtained.

In 2016 the Australian Government first formally established the use of defence spending to actively build and sustain a domestic industrial base with the release of the 2016 Defence Industry Policy Statement, which was later reinforced by the 2018 Defence Industrial Capability Plan. However, the strategy of heavily leveraging defence to rejuvenate broad advanced manufacturing became a central, accelerated economic policy in more recent years. Key Milestones and Strategy Updates:

April 2023: The Albanese Government released the Defence Strategic Review, which mandated a shift toward "National Defence," emphasizing domestic manufacturing to build strategic resilience.

April 2023: Federal Parliament approved the National Reconstruction Fund, which designated military equipment as one of its seven core advanced manufacturing priorities to revive local industry.

February 2024: The Minister for Defence Industry launched the Defence Industry Development Strategy, specifically prioritizing domestic manufacturing in munitions, autonomous systems, and naval shipbuilding.

April 2026: The government released the latest National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program, committing to a historic $425 billion investment over the decade. This strategy explicitly demands greater self-reliance and mandates expanding domestic missile and uncrewed vehicle manufacturing.

In 2024 I approached Defence for assistance towards producing the vehicle. I was asked if i was partnered with a medium to large engineering business, i said no, and was then told the project would be licenced to a multinational. A number of times I explained that this was not in the best interests of Australians or myself, but i was happy to proceed. Likely because of this the project was not accepted to the next stage.

In March 2026 the UK Ministry of Defence formally kicked off the competition to find a direct replacement for its Land Rover fleet, which will be worth 1.7 billion dollars. If the Australian Defence Force had assisted me there is a good chance I would have been able to submit to this competition a vehicle that is far more capable than the vehicles currently being offered. It is long overdue for government to hold government operatives responsible for missed opportunities, especially when those opportunities were fully placed in their lap.

On the 18th May 2026 our prime minister Anthony Albanese stated publically that there is “no reason why we can’t make (electric) vehicles. We saw a decline of manufacturing in Australia because of differential labour costs. New technology means that labour is less important than transport costs”. The decline of Australia’s manufacturing, which as a share of GDP dropped from 14 per cent in 1990 to just 5 per cent in 2025, is a “lesson in dependence,” says Mr Albanese. “We stepped back, the United States did as well and we saw manufacturing go largely to China and Asia. That creates a vulnerability, and we need to use the capacity that we have to make more things here. Because technology is ubiquitous, it’s available everywhere.” Mr Albanese is quick to spruik Australian success stories like Blue Scope Steel and defence manufacturing through AUKUS, the Ghost Bat and Ghost Shark, but says Australia needs to do better “commercialising” ideas so products and technologies can be exported and “produce income for the nation”. “We just lost (it),” he said. “We can do so much better right across the board. There’s nothing that we can’t do, but the key is when we have innovation, how do we commercialise those opportunities and back Australia.” Government procurement, which already calls on departments to preference Australian businesses, “needs to be part of the solution”. “Federal and state governments need to do that. And it’s a pity we don’t have Holden cars anymore.”

I note that Holden was lost when it was bought by a multinational in 1931 during the great depression. If government had assisted Holden at that time in order to prevent the buyout, imagine how much benefit Australia would have received over the subsequent 87 years, and maybe it would still be alive today.

Australians now purchase 250,000 Chinese made vehicles per year totaling 8 to 10 billion dollars, which is likely to quickly rise to 30 billion dollars per year. Chinese manufacturers are making a large push to dominate the 4x4 market. They will also offer accessories for those vehicles, which will decimate the Australian 4x4 accessory manufacturing industry, which is currently worth 6 billion dollars per year. These are ginormous sums of money with massive consequences for manufacturing capacity and geopolitical security.

Three days after Anthony Albanese's speech in favour of vehicle manufactruing, on the 21st May 2026, Defence told me a second time that they were not interested in providing any support for a 4x4 vehicle project.

The people of Australia want more Australian money to go to Australian owned companies manufacturing in Australia. There is a wealth of evidence suggesting the Australian Government wants more Australian money to go to multinationals manufacturing in Australia, resulting in control, priorities, intellectual property, profits and more residing overseas, and less tax paid. I wonder if the Government/ADF is milking the ideas of Australian innovators during pitching events and then feeding the ideas to multinationals?

I welcome anyone interested in this project to contact me, whether you are a potential purchaser, potential sponsor, potential investor, potential enabler, potential promoter, potential consultant, automotive designer/engineer, automotive enthusiast, or someone that just thinks they have something to offer.

Trayback camper, camper trailer and caravan

I have laid out innovative designs for a lightweight trayback camper, a general purpose lightweight high performance off road trailer (driven and non driven), a lightweight high performance off road camper trailer (driven and non driven) and a lightweight high performance offroad caravan (driven and non driven).

Modular military truck

I have conceptualised a military truck that is the highest embodiment of modularity I have come across.

Careers

The business regularly hosts university placements and internships so if this interests you please contact me.