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Ministry of Defence

Answer

Sir Anthony Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are his plans for the procurement of new utility vehicles and ambulances for the British Army; and if he will make a statement. [10825] Mr. Arbuthnot: There is a pressing need to replace about half the current fleet of Land Rover utility vehicles, many of which have reached the end of their operational lives. Subject to the satisfactory completion of contractual negotiations, we propose to place an order with Land Rover for about 8,000 new vehicles, known commercially as "Defender XD", to meet the Army's light and medium utility truck requirement. We also intend to place an order for 65 additional Pinzgauer vehicles, supplied by Steyr Daimler Puch, to enhance the fleet of these vehicles which is already successfully in service to meet the Army's heavy duty medium truck requirement. The Army and Royal Marines also need to replace their aging battlefield ambulances with vehicles providing better conditions for casualties, improved medical facilities and greater reliability. The competition for this programme has been particularly close, with vehicles offered by Land Rover and Steyr Daimler Puch both meeting the operational requirement. Both vehicles demonstrated excellent technical qualities. The Land Rover however, provides, in particular, excellent working conditions for the medical crew and commonality both with the new utility vehicles and the in-service Land Rover fleet. Also its acquisition cost is lower than the Steyr. We have, therefore, decided to award the contract for the supply of about 800 ambulances to Land Rover, subject to the satisfactory conclusion of contract negotiations. These decisions are good news for the armed forces. Both of the new Land Rover vehicles will enter service this summer and will be available for operational deployment in support of IFOR.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

269 c740-1W;269 c738-9W; 10825

Session

1995-96

Subjects

Contracts Armed forces Defence Ambulance services Health services Procurement Vehicles Land Rover

Contains statistics

Yes