Land Rover aims for Army coup / Land Rover is
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set to win a Minstry of Defence order for up to 6,500 vehicles. Only Land Rover, out of more than 20 competing firms, has been asked to supply evaluation vehicles for the MoD's TUL (Truck Utility Light) and TUM (Truck Utility Medium) programme.
After nine months of trials starting in April, the MoD plans to buy at least 6,000 4x4s over five years, worth some £150m. LR will supply derivatives of the Defender 90 and 110 for TUL (payload 600-800kg) and TUM (1,200kg).
Evaluation vehicles will also be provided for the TUM(HD) contract, which calls for up to 500 vehicles with 1,400kg payloads. In this category Land Rover faces tough competition from Steyr-Daimler-Puch's turbo-diesel 4x4, the Pinzgauer. SDP will be supplying nine evaluation vehicles similar to those used by US Special Forces and the Saudi National Guard, which operates 4,000 Pinzgauers.
The Army will probably have to trade the extreme mobility of the Pinzgauer against the lower price of a modified Defender 130, but vehicles in all three categories will have to comply with the MoD's stringent IMM (Improved Medium Mobility) requirements. These are the department's toughest mobility standards for conventional wheeled vehicles. They cover everything from waterfording capability to air portability and extreme climate tolerance.
HD vehicles must also be able to survive air drops.