General Dynamics Land Systems – Force Protection Europe (GDLS:FPE) has been awarded a contract by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to deliver additional Foxhound light protected patrol vehicles (LPPVs) to the British Army.
The new £90m contract involves delivery of an additional 100 vehicles, expanding the total number of Foxhounds to be delivered to the army under contract from 200 to 300.
Go deeper with GlobalData
GDLS:FPE managing director David Hind said that the contract would enable the company to continue the supply of Foxhound vehicles, which provide blast protection to UK troops.
”Foxhound is the product of a successful partnership between General Dynamics (GD) and key suppliers such as Ricardo, Formaplex, QinetiQ and the Defence Support Group, which has delivered this life-saving technology in less than 24 months since contract award,” Hind added.
Initially, 200 Foxhounds have been ordered by the army from GD under a £180m urgent operational requirement (UOR) contract in November 2010.
Production started in 2011, and some of the vehicles have already been deployed to Afghanistan and are currently undergoing final testing and evaluations in Helmand province before their operational deployment towards the end of this year.
Powered by a Steyr M16-Monoblock diesel engine, the Foxhound is a 4×4 highly-armoured vehicle, designed and built specifically to protect British troops against a wide range of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) threats.
Featuring V-hull blast-protection technology with a modular demountable protected crew pod, the vehicles offer enhanced mobility and blast survivability to the troops operating in urban environments.
The vehicle is also equipped with Formula One racing technology to offer speeds of up to 70mph, and is lighter and smaller when compared with the army’s Mastiff and Ridgback protected patrol vehicles.
