The selection of Force Protection Europe as the preferred bidder means that contract negotiations will now begin to provide an initial order of LPPVs through the urgent operational requirement process.
The first vehicles are expected to be available to troops for training in 2011. The total number will be subject to negotiation and announced at a later date.
The LPPV – developed and built in the UK by Force Protection Europe and Ricardo, together with Team Ocelot partners Thales, Qinetiq, Formaplex, DSG and Sula – has been designed to provide exceptional blast protection for a vehicle of its size.
It will carry a crew of up to six people and will join other armoured vehicles, including the Mastiff and the Ridgeback, on operations in Afghanistan.
General Sir Kevin O’Donoghue, chief of defence materiel, said: ‘A great deal of work has been done to get the programme to this stage. When it comes to vehicle technology, it is clear from this competition that British engineering is leading the way.’
Force Protection Europe has confirmed that, subject to the satisfactory completion of contractual negotiations with the MoD, all of the vehicles will be built and supported in the UK.
It is estimated that around 750 jobs will be created or sustained in the UK as a result of this programme.
The Ocelot and Supacat’s SPV400 were chosen from an initial field of 30 vehicles to be taken forward to the invitation-to-tender stage to meet the MoD’s LPPV requirements.
Press days don’t always go to plan, even when military hardware is on show. Stuart Nathan encounters a lot of mud, a large vehicle, a bad smell and a lot of smoke. Click here to read more.
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