Supacat recently hosted a celebration for the LWR(V) Lightweight Recovery Vehicle reaching Initial Operating Capability (IOC), with the British Army, DE&S, and NP Aerospace in attendance. Brigadier Matt Wilkinson, Vehicle Support Team Leader at DE&S, expressed his delight at the achievement and praised the collaboration between all parties involved, stating: “Today, we celebrated the Lightweight Recovery Variant reaching Initial Operating Capability, which is the product of a fantastic collaboration between the British Army, Defence Equipment and Support, Supacat and NP Aerospace. We now have a Lightweight Recovery capability, which the British Army can exploit to inform the Army’s Future Soldier requirements for recovery vehicles.”
LWR(V) fills a capability gap for a recovery vehicle with the off-road performance to follow the routes of the British Army’s HMT Jackal and Coyote vehicles, developed by Supacat. The solution utilises four in service Jackal 2 with the addition of Supacat’s innovative ‘Extenda’ removable 3rd axle to provide the recovery module and configure the 4×4 Jackal 2 as the 6×6 Coyote. The LWRV solution also introduces Supacat’s patented ‘Supalift’ recovery system technology that will allow the recovery of the Foxhound and HMT platforms. The modular design allows the new recovery vehicles to be returned to either Jackal 2 or Coyote with the respective removal or addition of the recovery module.
NP Aerospace, the engineering authority for the UK Ministry of Defence protected mobility fleet, and Supacat, are progressing the development of new LWR(V) (Lightweight Recovery Vehicle) for the British Army. A total of four Supacat LWRV vehicles are due to be released to the British Army later in the Spring 2023 – fulfilling a requirement for off-road capability in environments such as those seen in Mali, Africa, during Operation NEWCOMBE. The vehicle development is part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) Protected Mobility Engineering & Technical Support (PMETS) contract led by NP Aerospace and contracted vehicle OEMs and partners.
Developed for use by Special Forces the Extenda provides a unique ‘convertible’ platform. Using the HMT variable height air suspension system, Extenda matches the capabilities of the 400 and 600 series sister platforms yet can be configured as a 4×4 or 6×6 to meet the operational need by fitting or removing a modular, self-contained third axle unit. The hamper has also been designed as a modular system to enable rapid conversion. Like the other HMT series variants, the Extenda /Extenda Mk2 can be supplied with an optional mine blast and ballistic protection kit and can be fitted with a variety of mission hampers, weapons, communications, ISTAR and force protection equipment to suit a wide range of operational roles.
