The Land Rover Defender CAV 100 has now racked up over 25 years of continuous British Forces operational service, having recently deployed to Bosnia again, writes Bob Morrison.
Continuing the story from our first article in this mini-series about this much-maligned light armoured vehicle, in which many soldiers have died on operations but which has also kept many others alive when under attack on the frontline, possibly this second part may explain why it is still in use. The Snatch / CAV 100 is not a bad vehicle, and if used in context it is actually considerably better and more capable than significantly larger and heavier armoured vehicles costing possibly ten times as much, but if used in very high threat areas rather than the lesser threat level environments it was designed for it cannot realistically be expected to offer the high degree of protection required.
Close on ten years ago, on 16th December 2008 to be precise, the then Secretary of State for Defence (John Hutton MP, Labour) told Parliament in a Written Statement why the Defender-based Composite Armour Vehicle was being retained in service despite at that stage 37 soldiers having died while travelling in it. He had recently been asked to institute a public inquiry into the use of these vehicles but after “very careful consideration” he decided that a public inquiry would not be the right way to proceed. In his statement the Secretary of State for Defence said: “I have sought comprehensive advice on whether the continued use of Snatch is necessary, particularly given the substantial investment we have made in new protected vehicles in recent years. The clear advice to me from military operational commanders, unanimously endorsed by the Chiefs of Staff, is that Snatch remains essential to the success of our operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Around the cusp of the millennium the much larger TAVERN was introduced for high threat area deployments in Northern Ireland – though it offered better protection is was more cramped and less manoeuvrable than Snatch [© BM]

NP Aerospace firing trials vehicle demonstrating effects of multiple bullet hits and even an RPG strike [© BM]

Crater left by an IED in Iraq – the resultant shaped charge strike could even penetrate conventional armoured vehicles [© Carl Schulze]

The RIDGBACK offers much greater protection but was too bulky and unweildy for many tasks in Helmand [© BM]

A few of the Snatch fleet were converted as Panama Unmanned Ground Vehicles for route clearance [© BM]
PS. Sorry it has taken me so long to pen this second part of the Snatch story, but the last month has been exceedingly busy.
{ images © Bob Morrison unless noted }