British troops receive early Christmas delivery of support trucks
Image courtesy DE&S
They are the first of 500 multipurpose Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicle trucks, bought under a £282 million contract, which will allow troops to transport essentials such as ammunition, food, water and support materiel, to operational locations.
The newly delivered vehicles are from the HX family, which are a range of purpose-designed military trucks equipped with a multitude of protection capabilities, keeping the most important asset - people - safe.
A rapid procurement process was pioneered by Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), Army Headquarters and the Field Army, which secured all 500 trucks in just seven months.
Brigadier Matt Wilkinson, Defence, Equipment and Support said: “The joint team across Army Headquarters, Field Army, DE&S and our industry partners have risen to the challenge of rapidly delivering capability to meet Defence requirements. The procurement of an additional 500 palletised load system trucks has significantly increased the Field Army’s tactical logistic lift.”
The first trucks were received by troops one year after contract signature at 7 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps based in Dalton Barracks, who will now start training on the vehicles. Another 40 vehicles will be utilised for training prior to April 2025 with all 500 fielded to the Field Army by September 2025.
Colonel Andy Elliott, HQ Field Army said: “Field Army welcome the fielding of these critical vehicles to begin to close the gap in the logistic lift capacity required to deliver and sustain war fighting at scale. Delivering capability at pace challenges procurement processes and policies and lessons from this project can be applied to streamline future acquisitions, vital as the Army seeks to double lethality by 2027.”
The rapid procurement of the Rheinmetall HX Vehicles comes at an essential time, as the British Army continues to face increased commitments through Op MOBILISE and its offer to the NATO New Force Model.
Rebecca Richards, Managing Director of RMMV-UK added: “This collaborative venture, between Rheinmetall and the UK MOD, to deliver military capability at pace has been a supreme effort by both teams. It sets the bar for delivering new capabilities and highlights what is possible when NATO allies operate on a bi-lateral basis in their procurements.”
