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UK military’s acquisition of 60 allterrain armored vehicles alongside European partners will support domestic and international objectives, says GlobalData

Following the British Ministry of Defence (MOD)’s announcement that it has signed a procurement agreement for 60 BvS10 amphibious all-terrain armored vehicles valued at £140 million ($200 million);

Tristan Sauer, Land Domain Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“The UK’s decision to acquire a fleet of BvS10 platforms alongside critical European partners is a reflection of evolving procurement priorities within the British armed forces, as well as within the wider western military community. This contract provides several strategic and geopolitical benefits, as the UK’s procurement agreement for 60 BvS10 vehicles is part of the larger Collabora- tive All-Terrain vehicle (CATV) program, which is being pursued by NATO ally Germany and future NATO member Sweden following an agreement by the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) Arctic.

“On a national level, the procurement of these vehicles reflects the vision outlined in the Future Soldier reform initiative published in March 2021. The provision of BvS10 FATVs will enable the Future Commando Force to retain critical mobility and aquatic insertion capabilities during operations in extreme cold-weather environments.

“The second national level benefit of this pro- curement program lies in its impact on the domestic industrial defense sector, as the manufacture of 463 platforms will create key jobs for British firms which are part of the manufacturing supply chain. For example, the BvS10 employs a 5.9-liter turbocharged diesel engine produced by Cummins Inc, with all 60 engines destined for the UK’s FATVs to be manufactured locally at a facility in Darlington. The British armed forces already operate four variants of the BvS10, there is an established domestic supply chain for spare parts and technical support, which the Future Commando Force can rely on throughout the anticipated 30-year lifecycle of these new platforms.”