ITURRI unveils GRITSTONE for British Army Light Mobility Vehicle programme

ITURRI has unveiled GRITSTONE, its proposed solution for the British Army’s Light Mobility Vehicle (LMV) programme. The firm has also confirmed an industrial partnership intended to deliver, integrate and sustain the vehicles throughout their service life.

Announced on 8 October in Seville, the proposal has been developed specifically to meet the future mobility requirements of the British Armed Forces for an LMV to replace its existing fleet of Land Rover Defenders.

ITURRI unveils the GRITSTONE LMV

ITURRI has supported UK defence and emergency service customers since 1998. The company supplies specialist vehicles and mission systems to defence, security and civil protection organisations worldwide, delivering and supporting complex vehicle programmes across Europe, the Middle East, North and South America, and other international markets.

Its experience also includes providing tactical mobility platforms and support solutions to NATO and partner nations. According to the company, the GRITSTONE “combines a “mature vehicle platform with established defence integration expertise and a comprehensive UK-based support solution, with an emphasis on operational capability, affordability and low-risk delivery.”

An experienced industrial partnership

At the heart of GRITSTONE is a partnership comprising ITURRI, Stellantis Pro One and Stellantis UK, TVS Supply Chain Solutions UK & Europe, and Sonovision UK.

Together, ITURRI said that the organisations bring automotive manufacturing capacity, defence support expertise, engineering capabilities and through-life fleet management experience. ITURRI describes the partnership as providing the Ministry of Defence with a credible, affordable and low-risk route to capability.

The programme is structured around an established vehicle platform rather than a developmental design. According to ITURRI, this approach is intended to reduce technical uncertainty, schedule pressures and the risk of cost growth, while prioritising reliability, supportability and long-term fleet availability, as well as manufacturing heritage and supply chain capability.

The company says it brings “established quality systems, industrial scale and resilience to the programme.”

TVS Supply Chain Solutions provides logistics, supply chain and sustainment expertise across defence and government sectors. Its contribution will support fleet readiness through effective spare-parts management, resilient supply chains and long-term availability planning.

Sonovision UK brings specialist expertise in supportability, industrialisation and sustainment. Its responsibilities and capabilities span tooling, manufacturing engineering, Integrated Product Support, technical data, training and in-service support.

These activities are intended to help ensure vehicles can be manufactured efficiently, maintained effectively and kept at high levels of operational readiness throughout their service life.

Emphasis is on through-life support

According to ITURRI, GRITSTONE’s underlying principle is to provide British Armed Forces with a mobility capability that is operationally effective, affordable to own, straightforward to support and resilient over its lifetime.

The programme places equal emphasis on fleet availability, supportability and lifecycle value, with operational readiness at the centre of the proposed solution.

ITURRI said it also intends to maximise UK industrial participation through domestic engineering, vehicle integration, support and sustainment activities. This approach is designed to establish a robust, resilient support ecosystem capable of sustaining the fleet throughout its service life, while strengthening sovereign UK support capabilities.

ITURRI commits to the LMV programme

Johnny Hathaway-White, ITURRI’s Director of UK Defence Programmes, said GRITSTONE represented more than a vehicle family, combining an adaptable, proven mobility platform with the company’s experience supporting UK defence and emergency services since 1998 and delivering complex international programmes.

He highlighted the partnership with Stellantis, TVS Supply Chain Solutions and Sonovision as an experienced industrial team assembled to deliver reliable capability, sovereign UK support and long-term value for the British Armed Forces.

The programme’s principal strengths include ITURRI’s international defence vehicle experience, NATO and partner-nation fleet support, a mature platform, UK engineering and integration capacity, automotive manufacturing expertise and comprehensive through-life fleet support.

By combining these capabilities, ITURRI said it intends to offer GRITSONE to the British Army a low-risk approach to future light mobility, focused on delivery certainty, affordability, fleet readiness, long-term value for money and resilient domestic support.