Boughton wins MoD 2-tonne deal
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• As exclusively predicted by Commercial Motor (19-25 May) Reynolds Boughton has won the British Army's twotonne contract. The 226 million deal is for 1,000 RB44s with deliveries due to start in December 1989.
There were initially three contenders for the contract, but Land Rover pulled out to leave it as a straight fight between Boughton and Stonefield.
The RB44 uses Boughton's own axles and two-speed transfer case, with the Perkins Phaser T110 turbocharged diesel engine driving through a Chrysler Torqueflite A727 three-speed automatic transmission. The chassis frame and cab will be built by Renault at Dunstable, being based on that company's 50-Series lightmedium truck components.
For the army the RB44s will be built in a number of variants ranging from troop carriers to pallet carriers and communications vehicles. The axles and transmissions will be assembled at Boughton's plant in north Devon, with final assem bly at its factory at Amersham in Buckinghamshire.
Success in the British contract will obviously help the RB44's export prospects. It is available in completely knocked-down (CICD) form, and interest has already been expressed by companies in Malaysia and Pakistan.
While the two-tonne contract has now been awarded, the much bigger contract for a British army four-tonne vehicle is still a long way from being settled. Minister of State for Defence Procurement Lord Trefgarne has told Commercial Motor that the 4 x4 mediummobility vehicle contract is still in the early stages of assessment, and that he does not expect a decision before the autumn of next year.
AWD-Bedford, Leyland Daf and Volvo are all competing to supply the army with a replacement for the Bedford MK. AWD is still supplying MKs to the army under a recentlyextended contract which runs through next year. The fourtonner contract could be worth as many as 2,000 vehicles a year, not counting exports.