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During the official opening of DVD 10, the U.K. Defence Equipment, Support and Technology (DEST) Minister, The Rt. Hon. Peter Luff M.P. announced the two competing prototypes for the Light Protected Patrol Vehicle (LPPV) that have been specifically designed to withstand Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) The Minister said “Tackling the IED threat is vital for us to make military progress. C-IED is not just about the bomb disposal expert defusing a bomb, vital and dangerous though that role is. It is about making sure that our soldiers have a range of tools, tactics and techniques available to them." He added that: “The Prime Minister recently announced an extra £67M in counter-IED funding, which will be put towards more armoured vehicles, counter-IED teams and search dogs in Afghanistan.”
The Light Protected Patrol Vehicles (LPPV) will replace Snatch Landrovers in theatre and are principally required for a wide range of patrol tasks. They need to be sufficiently agile to provide high cross country mobility and enable engagement with the local population, often in areas which would be inaccessible to heavier vehicles. The two vehicles competing for the LPPV contract are the Ocelot produced by Force Protection Europe, based in Warwickshire, working together with West Sussex company Ricardo Ltd, and the SPV-400 produced by Supacat, based in Devon, working under an alliance with Coventry company NP Aerospace Ltd. Both are competing for a contract to provide an initial tranche of 200 Light Protected Patrol Vehicles (LPPV) to meet the MOD’s requirement.
General Sir Kevin O’Donoghue, Chief of Defence Materiel and head of the MOD Defence Equipment and Support organisation, said: “As well as its protection against blasts, the LPPV must be able to operate in the harsh conditions of the desert and tight urban environments. The new LPPV will have to be technologically advanced and will need to provide the right balance between protection, weight and manoeuvrability. An initial batch of 200 LPPV will be funded from the Treasury reserve as an Urgent Operational Requirement to replace the Snatch Land Rover. There is an option to increase the number of vehicles from 200 to up to 400. The first batch of the vehicles is required for training by the end of 2011. Both vehicles contending for the contract were on show at this year’s DVD event at Millbrook Proving Ground, Bedfordshire.
The Minister also made further equipment announcements.
A £45m contract has also been awarded to the Supacat–Babcock industry alliance for over 140 further Jackal 2A weapons-mounted 4x4 patrol vehicles to support operations in Afghanistan. The new order will bring the total number of Jackal vehicles in service with the UK Armed Forces to over 400, in 3 configurations; Jackal 1, Jackal 2 and the latest improved variant, Jackal 2A.
An additional 28 Wolfhound heavy tactical support vehicles are to be acquired under a £20m deal from IST. Designed to provide high levels of protection for troops supplying forward operating bases, the Wolfhound is from the same stable as the Force Protection Mastiff mine resistant, ambush protected vehicle which has become the byword for survivability in theatres such as Afghanistan and Iraq. The MoD ordered 98 Wolfhounds in April of last year.
Talisman - MoD Showcases New Capability Against IED
The British military’s latest weapon to help counter the threat posed by Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and mines was showcased during DVD 10. Talisman is a suite of vehicles operated by the Royal Engineers that clears routes of IEDs and mines. It was bought as an Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) worth more than £180M.
Each Talisman system consists of: A Mastiff Protected Patrol Vehicle; A Buffalo Mine Protected Vehicle with a rummaging arm; A JCB High Mobility Engineer Excavator; A T-Hawk Micro Air Vehicle and A Talon tracked Remote Control Vehicle.
Patrick Beazley, Head of Combat Wheels Group at Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), said: “Talisman will improve our ability to manage the IED and mine threat with the system’s primary mission being to protect vehicle convoys delivering supplies to Forward Operating Bases. It has been designed as a flexible manoeuvre support capability that can be quickly re-tasked and rearranged to meet different missions, operating independently or alongside other bomb disposal systems dependent on the threat. It is now part of a wide range of tools, techniques and tactics we have to help mitigate the risk to our forces from the threat of IEDs.”
Talisman is delivered by a partnership of companies, many of them UK-based: JCB Defence UK (who subcontract some elements to the US), THALES Land and Joint (UK/FR), NP Aerospace (UK), Force Protection International (US), ALC (UK), General Dynamics UK (UK), SELEX Galileo (UK/IT), Honeywell (US/UK), QinetiQ-Foster-Millar (UK/US), Kongsberg (SW).
Visiting DVD on 23rd July, The Defence Equipment, Support and Technology (DEST) Minister Peter Luff met members of a platoon from the 1ST Battalion Royal Welsh who survived two bomb blasts in two days in their heavily armoured Mastiffs while in Afghanistan.
The soldiers, from 10 Platoon D Company, were on patrol in the Mastiff earlier this year in the Babaji district of central Helmand, when their vehicle was struck by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in two separate incidents. Platoon Commander Lieutenant Mark Lewis, aged 26 and from Swansea, survived both explosions and said: “The first IED strike blew the Mastiff across the road. I was top cover at the time and blown out of the turret but stopped from landing in the nearby field by the cam net. Once the dust settled I could hear the lads in the cabin. I dropped down fearing the worst, not knowing what I would see next. Thankfully they were all ok, with only minor injuries and the next day we were all back out on patrol.”
Lance Corporal Kristian Orton, aged 29 and from Barry, South Wales - was providing top cover for another Mastiff when he saw his comrades caught in the first IED blast. He said: “I man the Mastiff 50 calibre gun, so if anything happens you are the initial response because you will be the first to see it. It wasn’t pleasant to see the lads take a hit but I knew that they would be ok. I feel safe in the Mastiff because I know firsthand that it can withstand the impact of an IED. They are an invaluable tool to those on the front line.”
Mastiff is a heavily-armoured, 6x6 wheel-drive protected patrol vehicle, which carries eight people, plus two crew. It is used to transport troops and protect large convoys as well as directly engaging the Taliban with its advanced weapons systems. They were first introduced on operations in 2006 and are designed to transport troops and their equipment with a very high level of protection. More than 250 of these heavily armoured vehicles in a range of different versions are currently in service with a further 100 planned for delivery.
Lieutenant Lewis and his men were back on duty the next day in another area of the province which was known to have IEDs. He continued: “I was more than happy to go out again in the Mastiff after the first explosion because I knew that it would keep me safe. This time I was out with my platoon which was split into two separate Mastiffs. The area we were in was known to have IEDs and as we were calling in for support we came under fire. As we were manovering my Mastiff to get into a better position we were hit by one of the IEDs. It wasn’t particularly nice getting hit but at the end of the day the Mastiff did its job and took the brunt of the explosion, which saved our lives.”
Fusilier Danny Hughes -19-years-old and from Elsmere Port, Cheshire - was driving the vehicle during the second blast. He said: “This is a good bit of kit. When we hit the device we were all shocked but we soon realised that everybody was ok and we just got on with our job. We are confident in the protection that this vehicle gives us against IEDs and we are all living proof that it works.”
All men have since returned from Afghanistan to their hometowns in Wales after finishing their tour of duty in April.
During a visit to Afghanistan earlier this month, the Prime Minister announced £67M of extra funding to be put towards the countering the IED threat. Around £40M of this will be spent on more protected vehicles, including Mastiffs. The seats in a Mastiff are designed to provide blast protection to the troops inside the vehicle. They have a load limiting element, which means they absorb the effect of the blast by dropping down, partially mitigating the upward force. This reduces the upward body force felt by the crew and significantly reduces the chance of injury.
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