Babcock International has been awarded a one-year contract by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to convert four in-service British Army Land Rovers from diesel to electric propulsion under Project Lurcher, the company announced on 13 April 2023.
Under the contract, which was awarded by the MoD’s Defence Equipment & Support organisation (DE&S), Babcock will partner with electric vehicle (EV) specialist Electrogenic to convert two protected-vehicle and two general-service Land Rovers. Babcock did not give the value of the award in its press release, but the bidstats.uk website cites its value as GBP 535,170 (EUR 605,199) and notes that the work is to be complete by 31 March 2024.
Once converted, the vehicles will be tested by the British Army’s Armoured Trials and Development Unit (ATDU), based at Bovington in Dorset, in a series of experimental battlefield scenarios, which will assess performance over steep terrain, while wading and towing, and in different climate-related conditions.
The ATDU’s Corporal Bryan Munce was quoted by Babcock as saying, “ATDU is supporting defence to fully realise the strengths and weaknesses of electric vehicle technology through Project Lurcher. Mobility performance, exportable power, signature and cost reduction are just some of the considerations we will explore while partnering with Electrogenic and Babcock. In understanding what could enable our forces, it also informs MoD of potential threats to be cognisant of, to enhance our strategic approach.”
Chris Spicer, Babcock’s Managing Director of Engineering and Systems Integration – Land, was quoted as saying, “This is a great opportunity to investigate alternative engine technology, which will enable the British Army to extend the life of its Land Rovers as diesel becomes obsolete. I’m excited to see how the converted Land Rovers perform in a test environment against diesel and hybrid equivalents.”
Steve Drummond, Co-Founder of Electrogenic, added, “We are delighted to be working with Babcock, and we’re immensely proud to be putting our market-leading EV technology to the ultimate test with the British Army. To be selected is a testament to the sophistication of our technology, and our years of experience developing Land Rover EV conversions.”
The British Army has been conducting a number of experiments with hybrid and electric drive propulsion in recent years. One issue for purely electric vehicles on the battlefield is getting power forward, suggesting the adoption of hybrid electric vehicles could be a viable interim measure.
Another issue is the cost of introducing completely new fleets of electrified vehicles. If conventionally powered vehicles can instead be converted at an economically viable cost, that would serve to hasten the introduction of the technology.
Peter Felstead