Babcock and Hobson Industries have signed an agreement to work together with the aim to resolve obsolescence in military Land Rovers. Babcock provides the through-life support and management for 60 percent of the British Army’s vehicles, with a focus on providing innovative solutions to long standing supply chain challenges which routinely impact the availability of British Army vehicles such as the Land Rover Wolf platform. Hobson Industries is an innovative and highly technical engineering business that specialise in the through-life support of the Land Rover Defender (Wolf) platform.
Peter Hobson, Managing Director at Hobson Industries said, “This framework agreement builds on a long-term association of mutual respect, joint skills and capabilities and enables Hobson Industries and Babcock to work more closely together to achieve a common goal to deliver excellence of service and capabilities to UK Armed Forces.”
Jon Morley, Director of Material Availability Services at Babcock, said: “Finding modern, sustainable solutions to some long-standing challenges will enhance the operational capability of the British Army. Hobson Industries are subject matter experts and we’re delighted to be formalising our relationship with them.”
This partnership draws upon the combined experience of our maintenance and repair capabilities, with Hobson’s subject matter expertise on the Wolf platform. With an initial focus on the Land Rover Wolf, the partnership will bring forward a wide range of modern technical solutions in the areas of design, manufacture, remanufacturing and repair. This will increase the availability of assets for the front-line commands, increase reliability and enable the most cost-effective solution for the British Army. The suite of technical and digital solutions now available through this partnership provide an unprecedented opportunity to reverse the trend of obsolescence impacting the defence fleet.
The Land Rover has been a vital part of the force since it first came into service in 1949. The Land Rover was inspired by the military jeeps of the Second World War, but was initially designed for farming and industrial use. The Land Rover Wolf is a light military vehicle manufactured by Land Rover in the United Kingdom (UK), based on the Land Rover Defender, introduced in 1994. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) designates the Wolf 90 (short wheelbase) as Truck Utility Light (TUL) HS, and the Wolf 110 (long wheelbase) as Truck Utility Medium (TUM) HS, where HS stands for ‘High Specification’. Land Rover calls it eXtra Duty (XD). The 1992 Snatch Land Rover, fitted with composite armour for ballistic protection, does not use the same ‘heavy duty’ chassis.
