UK Land Forces Order Cougar Family Vehicles
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Britain/U.K., Contracts - Awards, Other Corporation, Spotlight articles, Support & Maintenance, Trucks & Transport
(click to view full)
In “Britain Buying New Land Vehicles for Iraqi & Afghan Theaters” (July 26/06), DID noted a trio of vehicle purchases intended to upgrade the survivability of Britain’s army patrols in high-threat areas, as part of a general trend among Western militaries toward high-survivability vehicle designs.
Specific figures were not given initially – but those figures have emerged over time, along with field experience to back up the initial pros and cons of Britain’s modified Cougar design. Force Protection Inc. ramped up production capacity to produce the “Mastiff Protected Patrol Vehicles” – and now finds itself in the position of having Britain and Iraq as its most important customers. Britain originally chose Force Protection’s Cougar vehicles over BAE’s RG-33 family, and has elected to continue that trend by adding the 4×4 “Ridgeback” patrol vehicles and 6×6 “Wolfhound” cargo variants to its fleet.
The UK MoD says that its Mastiff 2 and Ridgback vehicles are now in-theater and operational…
- The Lion’s Cougars [updated]
- The UK’s PPV Program: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
- Additional Readings
- Appendix A: Force Protection, Inc – Expand to Meet Demand (Aug 2006)
In the DII Spotlight, the British Ministry of Defence takes steps to acquire armored vehicles that may be able to withstand EFP landmines and IED attacks for its armies in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Discussion of MPPVs: "Very high levels of protection against a number of known and emerging threats of a varied nature including Ballistic, Blast, Mine and Fragmentation"
- Analysis of Mastiff armor, the pros and cons
- Production at Force Protection Industries responds to warfare's demands
- Early fatality rates for Cougar vehicles in Iraq
- Photos and extensive network of articles including these from DII: "Cougar Armored Trucks to Stalk Mines on the Battlefield," "UK Land Forces Order 86 'Mastiff PPV' Cougar Vehicles," and "BAE Delivering a Cougar Variant for Iraq's $445.4M ILAV Contract"
