bobdina
06-24-2010, 01:59 PM
British Troops In Afghanistan To Get New Armored Vehicles
By ANDREW CHUTER
Published: 23 Jun 2010 07:46
Britain's troops fighting in Afghanistan are set to get an equipment boost following an announcement of a raft of new armored vehicle orders by Ministry of Defence procurement minister Peter Luff at a land systems show in the U.K.
Luff said the military would be getting 140 additional Jackal 2 patrol vehicles from British producer Supacat and an extra 28 Wolfhound heavy tactical support vehicles from Force Protection.
Related Topics
* Europe
* Land Warfare
Together the two orders are worth 65 million pounds ($97 million).
Prime Minister David Cameron announced the new Conservative-led government's intention to spend an additional 65 million pounds on force protection during his first visit to Afghanistan after the May election. Now Luff has painted in the detail as he opened the MoD organized DVD show at the Millbrook vehicle test track in Southern England.
The new order for Supacat takes the number of Jackals to more than 500.
The latest order is for the 2A version of the patrol vehicle, which sports an enhanced protection cab.
Supacat managing director Nick Ames said the company was already working on how they can build in more protection for Jackal crews. He said there is a desire to upgrade all Jackal variants to the higher standard once the new work had been completed.
Some of the vehicles for the orders announced by Luff are already coming off the production line.
The Wolfhound deal with Force Protection takes British orders for the truck to 125.
The MoD originally ordered 97 machines in April 2009 as part of a 350 million pound ($521 million) tactical support vehicle program involving over 400 vehicles of various sizes.
Wolfhound is the truck variant of the Mastiff mine protected vehicle, better known outside the U.K. as the 6x6 Cougar.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4682401&c=EUR&s=LAN
By ANDREW CHUTER
Published: 23 Jun 2010 07:46
Britain's troops fighting in Afghanistan are set to get an equipment boost following an announcement of a raft of new armored vehicle orders by Ministry of Defence procurement minister Peter Luff at a land systems show in the U.K.
Luff said the military would be getting 140 additional Jackal 2 patrol vehicles from British producer Supacat and an extra 28 Wolfhound heavy tactical support vehicles from Force Protection.
Related Topics
* Europe
* Land Warfare
Together the two orders are worth 65 million pounds ($97 million).
Prime Minister David Cameron announced the new Conservative-led government's intention to spend an additional 65 million pounds on force protection during his first visit to Afghanistan after the May election. Now Luff has painted in the detail as he opened the MoD organized DVD show at the Millbrook vehicle test track in Southern England.
The new order for Supacat takes the number of Jackals to more than 500.
The latest order is for the 2A version of the patrol vehicle, which sports an enhanced protection cab.
Supacat managing director Nick Ames said the company was already working on how they can build in more protection for Jackal crews. He said there is a desire to upgrade all Jackal variants to the higher standard once the new work had been completed.
Some of the vehicles for the orders announced by Luff are already coming off the production line.
The Wolfhound deal with Force Protection takes British orders for the truck to 125.
The MoD originally ordered 97 machines in April 2009 as part of a 350 million pound ($521 million) tactical support vehicle program involving over 400 vehicles of various sizes.
Wolfhound is the truck variant of the Mastiff mine protected vehicle, better known outside the U.K. as the 6x6 Cougar.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4682401&c=EUR&s=LAN