Babcock and engineering company Hobson Industries have signed an agreement to work together with the aim to resolve obsolescence in military Land Rover vehicles, Babcock announced on 30 May 2024.
Babcock provides the through-life support and for 60% of the British Army’s vehicles, with a focus on providing innovative solutions to longstanding supply chain challenges that routinely affect the availability of British Army vehicles such as the Land Rover Wolf platform (a military vehicle based on the Land Rover Defender).
Hobson Industries, meanwhile, is a technical engineering business that specialises in the through-life support of the Land Rover Defender.
The partnership between the two companies thus draws upon the combined experience of Babcock’s maintenance and repair capabilities in combination with Hobson’s subject matter expertise on the Wolf platform.
The British Army designates the short wheelbase Wolf 90 as the Truck Utility Light (TUL) High Specification (HS) while the long wheelbase Wolf 110 is known as the Truck Utility Medium (TUM) HS.
With an initial focus on the Land Rover Wolf, the partnership will bring forward a wide range of modern technical solutions in the areas of design, manufacture, remanufacturing and repair. The objective is to increase the availability of assets for the frontline commands, increase reliability and enable the most cost-effective solution for the British Army.
“The suite of technical and digital solutions now available through this partnership provide an unprecedented opportunity to reverse the trend of obsolescence impacting the defence fleet,” Babcock stated in a press release.
Jon Morley, director of material availability services at Babcock, was quoted as saying, “Finding modern, sustainable solutions to some longstanding challenges will enhance the operational capability of the British Army. Hobson Industries are subject matter experts and we’re delighted to be formalising our relationship with them.”
Peter Hobson, managing director at Hobson Industries, added, “This framework agreement builds on a long-term association of mutual respect, joint skills and capabilities and enables Hobson Industries and Babcock to work more closely together to achieve a common goal to deliver excellence of service and capabilities to UK armed forces.”
