Pinzgauer in British Service ~ Part Three

The original SDP Pinzgauer 4×4 version ordered by UK MoD in July 1994 as the Truck Utility Medium [Heavy Duty] or TUM [HD] was a soft top, writes Bob Morrison.

~

Steyr-Daimler-Puch or SDP of Graz in Austria were the original manufacturer of the first UK MoD Pinzgauers but it was Automotive Technik Ltd or ATL, founded in 1993 and headquartered in Guildford, which supplied the vehicles. In mid-2000 production of the Pinzgauer was moved from Austria to England and ATL became the sole international supplier after acquiring the global rights from what was now Steyr-Puch.

By the autumn of 2002 ATL had introduced the EURO-3 compliant 5-cylinder Volkswagen 2.5-litre TDi engine in the Pinzgauer instead of the earlier 2.4-litre 6-cylinder model; UK MoD vehicles ordered with this later engine can usually be identified by the large one-piece brush guard / bonnet protector with outriggers bolted back to the engine bulkhead / A-pillars. According to the company, at this stage orders for three additional variants had been placed by UK MoD and the Surrey manufacturer was providing Post Design Services to produce modifications and installation kits to enhance the wide range of roles which the Pinzgauer now fulfilled.

ATL had submitted proposals for the New Zealand MoD LOV (Light Operational Vehicles) requirement and at the end of March 2004 it was announced they had been successful in winning an order for 321 vehicles in six variants. The new vehicles were intended to fulfil a new mobility requirement and allow the existing and aged Land Rover fleet to be progressively withdrawn from service. One of the LOV variants, of which 122 were ordered, was a hard top Command and Control or C2 version; a prototype in this configuration was displayed on the ATL stand at DVD in June 2003.

The UK already used a similar hard top variant, albeit with a side window in the left side of the rear compartment, a junction box let into the opposite side, and four unusual antennae mounts at the top of the body sides. In February 2004 I spotted and snapped one of these, LJ92AA, in Norway but was not able to photograph it from the rear as not only tent was a tent attached to it but the Commandos inside were operating sensitive equipment. I have since found out that this vehicle, which entered service in January 1998, was designated TRUCK UTY MED (HD) 4X4 HARD TOP WINTERISED / WATERPROOFED W/C3-1-BATES FPC/BPC STEYR DAIMLER PUCH. The acronym BATES stood for Battlefield Artillery Target Engagement System, which replaced FACE (Field Artillery Computing Equipment) formerly deployed in the FC101 Land Rover by Royal Artillery units.

By 2004 the British Army was deploying hard top Pinzgauers in the wider FFR or Fitted For Radio role and I managed to snap one of these, date into service 29 January of that year, at DVD 2004 in June. Although I photographed it from the front, unfortunately I was then distracted by a rare BvS10 Viking REME variant and stupidly I forgot to photograph the other side of the Pinz later; even though the much-delayed BOWMAN communications system was finally reaching Initial Operating Capability at this time (no less than 15 years after the original requirement was announced) this vehicle was designated TRUCK UTY MED (HD) 4X4 FFR CLANSMAN HARD TOP PINZGAUER EURO 3 (ABS).

At DVD 2005 vehicle BB10AB, which entered service on 28 February of that year, was displayed on the steering circle in the DE&S area. According to MoD records this one was designated TRUCK UTY MED (HD) 4X4 FFR HT PINZGAUER EURO 3 (ABS). I have as yet been unable to pin down precisely when UK MoD ordered these early 2000s hard top Pinzgauers, but I suspect the decision was made when it was realised that the BOWMAN (Better Off With Map And Nokia?) comms system had become far too bulky and heavy to be deployed in the Land Rover Defender ‘Wolf’ 90 TUL or Truck Utility Light. The predecessor comms system, CLANSMAN, was actually compact and light enough to be carried in the old Series III 88” wheelbase Lightweight / Airportable Land Rover.

A couple of months before DVD 2005, Automotive Technik Ltd was bought by US truck manufacturer Stewart & Stevenson (for £25 or $47 million according to reports at the time) who produced the US Army Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles or FMTV from 1996 until 2006; the FMTV was based on a Steyr-Daimler-Puch truck design. Incidentally, US Army Special Forces (SFOD-Delta’s B Squadron) had used the 6×6 Pinzgauer during the 2003 invasion of Northern Iraq and it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that Stewart & Stevenson were the supplier, but I have not been able to confirm this.

To further muddy the waters, in 2006 the vehicle division of Stewart & Stevenson was bought by US armour manufacturer Armor Holdings, who were then bought by BAE Systems the following year. Soft top EV56AB with folding canopy supports, designated TRUCK UTY MED (HD) 4X4 FFR ST PINZGAUER, appeared at DVD 2007 and documentation states this vehicle had entered service on 12 January of that year, which I think possibly makes it the youngest British military TUM (HD) that I have photographed. In January 2008 BAE Systems announced it would cease UK manufacture of the Pinzgauer once all contracts (including the armoured VECTOR version) were completed and production would then be transferred to South Africa, though some employees would be retained as part of a new company to support UK and New Zealand military fleets.

The Pinzgauer is still serving in 4×4 and 6×6 versions with the British Army, and indeed as recently as this September NP Aerospace was awarded an MoD Spares & Post Design Services contract to keep the vehicles running for another four to six years. While these ageing UK Forces vehicles are not as common as they were fifteen to twenty years ago, they will still have specific roles to fulfil until the UK Land Mobility Programme for an up to 3500kg GVW Light Mobility Vehicle is ordered and enters service.

Next time I plan to take a look at some Pinzgauer 718 6×6 versions used by British Forces.

Note: Usually the designation TRUCK UTILITY MEDIUM (Heavy Duty) is shown on British military registration ERM plates as TRUCK UTY MED (HD) but to save space in captions I have further reduced this to TUM (HD).

To be continued…..

[images © Bob Morrison]

~ $ ~

See also:-

• Pinzgauer in British Service ~ Part One
• Pinzgauer in British Service ~ Part Two
• Pinzgauer in British Service ~ Part Three

~