Briefing on 18 September at the 2024 Defence Vehicle Dynamics (DVD2024) show, held at UTAC Millbrook in Bedfordshire, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) firmed up the timelines for its much-anticipated Land Mobility Programme (LMP). The show, meanwhile, featured numerous platforms that could potentially address the LMP and associated British Army programmes.
The UK MoD has now set a date of November 2025 for when the tendering process will begin, with a deadline of October 2026 for when the first platforms under LMP will be selected.
The core LMP is focused on four key areas: LMP Heavy, which will require 500 vehicles in the 20-40,000 kg range; LMP Medium, covering 2,000 vehicles in the up-to 20,000 kg range; LMP Light, covering 2,500 vehicles in the up-to 10,000 kg range; and LMP Utility, covering 3,000 vehicles in the up to 7,000 kg range. These procurements are intended to rationalise the British Army’s protected mobility fleet, which expanded significantly as a result of urgent operational requirements for the counter-insurgency campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, adjacent to the overall LMP effort are the British Army’s Light Tactical Mobility Platform (LTMP) Light and LTMP Medium requirements. Under LTMP Light the UK MoD is expected to procure at least 156 utility terrain vehicles (UTVs) and/or all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). These are to have a minimum road speed of 40 km/h when towing a weight of 450 kg, a minimum payload capacity of 270 kg, a minimum ground clearance of 180 mm when fully laden, and must be legally drivable on UK roads.
Under the LTMP Medium requirement, meanwhile, an initial purchase of up to 48 UTVs is expected, with contract options potentially bringing the total procurement up to as many as 863 vehicles. A UK MoD LTMP Medium contract notice published on 25 August 2023 stated that the platforms were required to be operated using diesel/AVTUR F-34 fuel, have a minimum road speed of 65 km/h when towing the platform’s maximum authorised mass, have a minimum payload capacity of 600 kg, have a minimum ground clearance of 180 mm when fully laden, and must be legally drivable on UK roads.
Unsurprisingly, manufacturers looking to bid for the British Army’s collective future mobility requirements made a strong showing (they are too numerous to mention here), while such is the draw of these requirements that some companies made their DVD debut with a view to staking their claim as a contender.
One such DVD newcomer was GM Defense, which is bidding its Chevrolet Colorado ZR2-based Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) for the LTMP Light requirement. The diesel-powered ISV has already been procured by the US Army for its airborne divisions, which can deploy it via low-velocity airdrop, while in July 2024 the Canadian Armed Forces ordered 90 ISVs, which will support the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence Multinational Battlegroup in Latvia, for which Canada is the framework nation.
GM Defense is also bidding its diesel-powered Chevrolet Silverado-based Light Utility Vehicle (LUV) for the LTMP Medium requirement, while also offering its in-development, hybrid electric drive (HED) Next Generation Light Tactical Wheeled Vehicle (NGLTWV) for further into the future. The HED set-up will allow a range of more than 480 km on fuel and batteries while also offering a silent drive/silent watch capability. The first prototype of the NGLTWV will be on display at the Association of the US Army show in Washington, DC, in October 2024.
As Bradley Watters, GM Defense’s vice president for international business development, explained to ESD at DVD2024, the British Army “want to start with an internal combustion engine, because that’s what they’re comfortable with right now, but they want a road map that’ll take them to hybrid propulsion”.
GM Defence has teamed with UK vehicle integrator and fleet support specialist NP Aerospace for its UK land mobility bids, while its use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)-based designs should address British Army affordability requirements.
