VM Replacement Toolbox

Replacement Vehicle Mechanic (VM) toolboxes and tools has been high on the agenda for every unit in the Field Army for as long as many of us care to remember. While on the face of it, the procurement of such simple items feels intuitively straight forward, it has been anything but. Unfortunately, it is not as simple as a trip to Halfords with a trade card. The complexity surrounding the through-life support plan for new tools and those already in service, the financial categorisation frictions that have plagued the project, and the human resources required to deliver it, has meant that for years there has been no path forward. The team in ES Cap Dev (Army HQ), alongside the VM Trade Champion, ASM Millson, and the Operational Infrastructure team in DE&S can now announce that these issues have been worked out and new VM toolkits will begin to arrive in the Field Army from 2024. The plan will see the arrival of the first 500 toolkits begin to land around June 2024, being delivered at a rate of 100 per month. The prioritisation of units to receive these is yet to be decided, but HQ Field Army will work closely with the Formations to ensure that the right people get them at the right time. The plan to deliver the remaining 2,000 toolkits is in progress, there will be more information to follow in summer this year. These tools have a 10-year support mechanism and will be JAMES managed to formalise this support. Importantly, a plan to replace them at the end of that decade will be in place so that we avoid repeating the same problems. This process has set a precedent for how we can deliver such projects, and Army HQ can now look to the future and plan the update of tools for other REME trade groups.

Scribe: WO1 (ASM) Stu Millson – Vehicle Trade Champion

As Maj Shand mentioned previously, a replacement toolkit for Vehicle Mechanics has been long overdue. In fact, it is over 20 years since the VM Toolkit received any type of investment or review. As we all know the current issued VM Basic kit and Supplementary kit is outdated and no longer suitable for the ES tasks that we find ourselves conducting; adding increased strain to this is the delivery of the modern fleets we continue to support.

You will be alive to the supportability issues that we have felt over the years also, where contracts have lapsed resulting in the ‘system’ not being able to supply us with replacement issued tools. This has led to units making use of innovation spending to try and bridge the gap and unacceptably, our tradespeople having to spend your own money to purchase tooling fit for purpose.

In 2014 the Combat Service Support Trials Development Unit (CSS TDU) conducted some trials which highlighted the issues below, which I don’t think will be of any surprise: a. Tools – Many of the tools supplied are no longer required, as they were originally provided to support vehicles no longer in service. There are also several tools not currently provided, that are needed to support the current (and future) vehicle fleets, particularly Support Vehicles, Protected Mobility, AJAX and Mechanised Infantry Vehicles. b. Toolboxes – The issued VM Basic and VM Supplementary toolboxes are cumbersome, can be difficult to move/stack/carry, are easily damaged, which can affect their integrity and make them difficult to secure, and do not provide easy access to all tools, due to stacked tray inserts. c. Mobile Tool Chest – The FACOM mobile tool chest used for firm base support is obsolete and has a serious safety issue. A common fault with the locking mechanism designed to prevent more than one of the upper sliding drawers being opened at a time, allows two or more drawers to be opened together, which, when coupled with the weight of the system when full of tools, can lead to it becoming unstable and falling forward. This presents a potential to cause serious injury to personnel.

With this in mind, in 2020 work began to resolve this long-aged issue. Initially CSS TDU worked alongside the Operational Infrastructure Service Delivery Team (OI SDT) to review some solutions looking to overcome the problem. At this this point a number of user working groups were set up in order to analyse the tools required by the user. Thirty-six user groups in total were utilised across all the main garrisons, this data collected presented differing results; there was not one fits all solution with comparable results being seen from similar unit types.

Based upon this information, I as the Trade Champion alongside the OI SDT began to scrutinise the results further, and at this point we requested support from two senior Artisans; with heavy experience on wheeled platforms and tracked platforms. Together we refined the tools to go into the new kits and decided upon the stowage solution that should accommodate them.

These now have been developed into prototypes and will be seen at some units in the coming months as we confirm the suitability of the new VM toolkits. The new kit provides the VM on the shop floor with a rugged two-tier stacking type unit that can be transported not only around the shop floor but over rugged ground. Within the kit, we have provided a much wider array of tooling options. This kit will support the modern-day equipment that VM’s continue to maintain and repair and should lessen the need to seek tools from the G1098 store, or dare

I say Halfords…

No longer will individuals be limited to 3/8 and 1/4 inch drive socket sets, we have now included 1/2 inch drive sets also with variation in sizes up to 26 mm before moving into the impact sockets sets. Included is both 13 sided and 6 sided sockets, ratchet spanners, picks, pry bar, magnetic stripping tray, improved torch solutions, and Torx internal and external sets.

We believe this is a huge improvement to what is currently issued and the items I mention above are only some of the new additions. In conjunction with the roll out of the new tool kit is an abundance of improved tooling solitons available from OI SDT, items such as battery impact power tools, mobile LED lighting sets etc. I encourage you to all review your G1098 holdings against the Tooling Army Engineering Support Publication (AESP) and challenge your Chain of Command to source you these modern-day items.

Clearly this is not the final product, it will require continual improvement as lessons are learned from use, and as equipment develops. So, rest assured that there is a review set every 5 years on these toolkits; ensuring the future proofing of the kits. This however relies upon the user to ensure that you provide feedback; making use of applications such as Defence Ideas and invest in this new product.

Any comments, or suggestions you may have on the proposed toolkits are greatly received so please do get in touch with myself or one of the team.

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