UK LMV Contenders Catch-up | Joint Forces News

The Ineos Grenadier MRLV, produced in cooperation with SMT, is now being formally offered for the UK LMV requirement [© Bob Morrison]

With the UK LMV (Light Mobility Vehicle) project inching further forwards now is probably a good time for a catch-up on the known contenders, writes Bob Morrison.

On Thursday the British Army held a ‘Retirement Party’ on Bovington training area for the Land Rover fleet, currently scheduled to leave military service by 2030, and the Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry “signalled the intention to begin the competition to find its replacement”.

A line-up of military Land Rovers at the ‘Retirement Party’ at Bovington ~ white vehicles to left of shot are civilian spec Defender 90 models used by the UK Armed Forces Rally Team [© Bob Morrison]

At this event I had the opportunity to look at a number of LMV contender vehicles, including several previously covered in this section of JOINT-FORCES, and both INEOS and Jaguar Land Rover indicated they hoped to be in the running; however neither company has, at time of writing, issued a confirmatory press release on this subject. Portsmouth Aviation and Fering, with their HERCULES and PIONEER prototypes respectively, which have both previously been displayed at DVD or Defence Vehicle Dynamics, were also present at Bovington. AM General had a presence too, but no vehicle on the stand because their ‘Next Generation Humvee’ (which is neither the previously seen NXT 360 or SABER versions) is not due to appear publicly in the UK before 2026 Q3, and KIA was not present either because it is believed they were unable to ship a TASMAN demonstrator back to the UK in time for the display.

Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard is briefed on the UK Armed Forces Rally Team which has been rallying with Land Rovers for longer than I have been writing about them [© Bob Morrison]

A little over a month ago the LMV Project Team issued another Request for Information (RFI) to gather further insights from industry by the beginning of March; so far precise MoD requirements for the ageing Land Rover (TUL/TUM) and Pinzgauer (TUM HD) replacements have not yet been publicised. However from previous published information it appears that up to nine vehicle variants, preferably but not necessarily sharing a common base platform, are likely to be required.

The Minister is briefed by Babcock on the Toyota Land Cruiser conversions and Hilux model the company believes could fulfil the MoD Land Rover replacement needs [© Bob Morrison]

The majority of the final requirement for what the Minister said on Thursday will be “an initial tranche of 3,000 vehicles” is likely to be for conventional softskin utility vehicles, in both personnel with personal equipment and cargo carrying roles, plus light recce / patrol (as in WMIK) variants. Armoured (as in Snatch replacement) versions are also likely to be needed and up to 3000kg payload capability for two NATO pallets might be required for some of the cargo carriers, but these will most likely be in a different category of the larger Light Mobility Platform project because LMV is still believed to have a 3500kg weight limit. Speaking about LMV, the Minister also stated: “I want this to be, as much as possible, an off-the-shelf purchase”. It is therefore not unreasonable to assume that different vehicle makes or models, though possibly ones with maximum mechanical component compatibility, might eventually be chosen to fulfil all needs.

Major General Lizzie Faithfull-Davies is briefed by Team LionStrike on the GM Defense vehicles they believe could fulfil the MoD Land Rover replacement needs [© Bob Morrison]

In due course I plan to delve a little deeper into those manufacturers / vehicle types we have not yet covered in any detail, and if contenders issue press releases on the LMV topic we’ll run them, but in the meantime I hope the following photos from Thursday are of interest to readers.