London-headquartered Babcock has partnered with Toyota to offer a replacement for the British Army’s outgoing Land Rover fleet, based on the latter’s Land Cruiser and Hilux platforms.
The UK Ministry of Defence has announced the phased retirement of its seven-decade-old Land Rover fleet of more than 5,000 vehicles as part of the introduction of a new generation of Light Mobility Vehicles by 2030.
In response, the proposed General Logistics Vehicle (GLV) is a family of militarized vehicles derived from the two Toyota models. It is expected to draw heavily on Land Rover designs in terms of characteristics, performance, and overall architecture.
The platform features a common vehicle base with modular configurations to support a range of roles across evolving operational environments.
Designed for integrated C4ISTAR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance) operations, the GLV supports a range of communications and electronic payloads, along with counter-missile and counter-drone capabilities.
UK Supply Chain
As part of its proposal, Babcock said a network of leading UK small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will play a vital role in supplying specialist components for the vehicle family.
Militarization of the vehicles will be carried out by Babcock’s teams in the West Midlands.
“The Army’s Land Rover has earned its retirement – and with the General Logistics Vehicle, we’re building on its legacy with a product which will provide soldiers with a tough, reliable and practical platform to support a wide range of mission-critical tasks,” Managing Director for Babcock’s Engineering and Systems Integration business, Chris Spicer, said.
“We’re ensuring soldiers have a vehicle suited to modern operational requirements and by working with the UK’s brightest SMEs, we’re creating and sustaining high-quality jobs within our supply chain and contributing to the UK’s defence dividend.”
