Land Rover - Defender Military Vehicles

With nearly 60 years' experience, Land Rover provides armed forces around the globe with light 4x4 vehicles designed to meet a wide range of defence and peacekeeping roles.

The standard defence vehicle line-up within Land Rover's range is based on the Defender heavy-duty 4x4 platform. In addition the company manufactures Freelander 2 / LR2, Discovery 3 / LR3, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport vehicles.

DEFENDER CORE MILITARY VEHICLE

Land Rover has been owned by Ford Motor Company since 2000. The first Land Rover vehicle rolled off the production line in 1948. From the same location in Solihull, in the West Midlands of the United Kingdom, the factory now produces over 200,000 4x4 vehicles each year.

The original Land Rover was developed after the end of the Second World War to meet a demand from farmers worldwide for a tough, robust, light four-wheel drive vehicle. It has undergone constant evolution and development ever since.

Today's Defender is a tough, flexible, multi-platform vehicle offered in three wheelbase lengths (90, 110 and 130) and in a variety of body styles: pick up, hard top, station wagon and double cab. The combination of a robust steel chassis and a light but strong aluminium body provides high payload capability with low centre of gravity.

Defender's design and construction makes it suitable for adaptation to specialist applications including ballistic protection, weapons platforms, ambulances, command vehicles and vehicles equipped for marine wading and cold climate operations.

The Defender range of base vehicles has proven reliability with a high level of spare parts commonality between derivatives. The vehicles can be maintained by Land Rover's global dealer network in more than 100 countries, benefiting from the company's worldwide spare-parts logistics service provided by Caterpillar.

DEFENCE VEHICLES

Military versions of Defender are based on the civilian version, having the same basic chassis, powertrain, axles and bodywork. Features have been developed and adapted for military use over many years to meet NATO standards and the requirements of our customers. There are currently over 70,000 Defenders in service with armed forces around the globe.

Four Defender military 'platforms' are manufactured in the Land Rover factory at Solihull. These include General Service (GS) and Fitted For Radio (FFR), with 12V or 24V electrical systems. They are available as either short wheelbase vehicles (90) or long wheelbase (110) with either soft or hard top body types. Seating is for two soldiers in the front and up to eight in the back. Payload capacity ranges from 700kg in the 90 to 1,500kg for the 110 heavy-duty platform.

ENGINE, TRANSMISSION AND BRAKES

The Defender has a 2.4 turbo-charged common rail diesel engine which complies with EUIV exhaust emissions legislation. The engine delivers a maximum 90kW / 122PS of power and 360Nm of torque.

Transmission includes a six-speed manual gearbox and two-speed transfer box with centre differential lock. The Defender comes with front and rear disc brakes, and optional anti-lock braking and electronic traction control.

RAPID RESPONSE VEHICLES

Land Rover military vehicles are all designed to meet the needs of the modern army. For that reason they are especially suited to rapid response situations, having the optimal external dimensions, high payload to weight ratios, special fixings and quick strip down. Specialist features that enhance operational capability include crew roll over protection, winch systems, winterisation, raised air intake and rifle stowage.

The Defender military vehicle meets NATO standards and has features fitted as standard that military customers demand. All Defender military vehicles have the UK MOD's Joint Air Transport Executive (JATE) rings fitted to the chassis for air and heli-portability (JATE has formally approved Defender for these purposes). Defender has also been approved for air drop in a medium-stressed platform, and – with the roll-over bar and hood frame removed – can fit in a CH-47 and CH-53.

RAPID DEPLOYMENT VEHICLE (RDV)

The RDV is a modular equipment and weapons platform based on the standard 90 or 110 GS vehicle. A tough, flexible and mobile platform, it is suited to a wide variety of uses, including peacekeeping support and humanitarian and refugee protection. The RDV also features a rollover protection frame with ring mount. An RDV conversion can be fitted to a prepared base vehicle in less than four hours by two men.