Stealth bike defence manufacturer investigates dumping Australia after local postal contract setback

Stealth Electric Bikes, which produces military-grade electric bikes used by special forces, was overlooked in favour of a foreign producer despite spending $2m developing bikes for the nation’s postal fleet.

US military and the Australian-produced electric stealth bikes that are used across the globe by specialist units. Picture: Stealth Electric Bikes

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A high-profile stealth bike defence manufacturer is planning to shift offshore after a snub by Australia Post cost it potentially tens of millions in lost revenue and development expenses.

Stealth Electric Bikes produces high-end, military-grade electric bikes used by special forces and tactical fighters to travel in difficult locations such as the Middle East, largely to escape enemy detection and move rapidly amid rugged ­terrain.

The company has so far sold 3500 units, based broadly on mountain bike technology, to commercial and government customers made up of mostly military and police units.

They are being used in Sweden, The Netherlands, Britain, Latvia, Singapore, Brunei, Canada, the US and Australia.

The company also developed special electric bikes for Australia Post but was overlooked as the supplier for a major contract to replace old school internal combustion engine motorbikes, with the authority favouring vehicles built in Switzerland and Taiwan.

John Karambalis, Stealth Electric Bikes co-founder, said the company was now looking at producing its stock in Poland and possibly Mexico, with the EU keen to bolster defence during the Ukraine war and amid immigration issues and the shadow of the Mid-East war.

The company had spent years working on bikes for the nation’s postal fleet but was overlooked in favour of foreign interests.

Mr Karambalis said after 7½ years and $2m worth of development, Australia Post opted to back a foreign producer.

“They just pulled the pin. What are we supposed to do?’’ he said.

Dandenong-based company Stealth Electric Bikes built three-wheel bikes to Australia Post specifications.

Australia Post initially went with Swiss bikes, which the union said had suffered hundreds of incidents, and questioned why a local option wasn’t pursued.

Mr Karambalis said the Albanese government had been “running around in circles” over Australia Post and negotiations were now under way in two countries to shift production of both the postal trikes and stealth bikes.

The stealth bikes are built with aircraft-standard materials and can weigh as little as 34kg or up to 74kg, can travel at close to 100km/h and are considerably quieter than normal motorbikes.

They are generally used for tactical purposes, such as creeping up on the enemy. They can be deployed from helicopters and armoured vehicles and excel in mountainous and rocky terrain.

The postal bikes are a separate part of the business but use electric technology drawn from the company’s long history of building e-bikes.

Australia Post believes it did its best to source local delivery trikes but could not find a suitable local company. “When selecting new delivery vehicles, Australia Post has clear standards for team member safety, functionality, performance and sustainability based on strict procurement guidelines,’’ a spokeswoman said.

“While our preference was to work with a local supplier, no Australian manufacturer was able to meet all these performance and safety standards. We’re delivering more parcels than ever before and our electric delivery vehicles need to be able to safely carry our posties as well as more and larger parcels, and need to operate across all types of terrain as well as at higher speeds on major roads.

“We engaged independent Australian vehicle engineering expertise to assess the quality, cap­acity, and safety of the manufacturing during the procurement process.’’

Communications Workers Union Victoria branch secretary Troy McGuinness said the first foreign postal bikes, from Switzerland, had failed. “They tip over,’’ he said, adding that the centre of gravity was too high.

He said the union logged 600 incidents with them before giving up because the frequency of complaints was so high.

Mr McGuinness questioned why a local manufacturer wasn’t chosen. “We were hoping Australia Post would go with the Stealth,’’ he said.