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Defence Procurement

The hon. Gentleman has a great knowledge of military needs and capability and says that he has been involved with Snatch as a capability for a long time. We are seeking all the time to extend the range of vehicles that are available. That is why we announced the new Ridgback—a large, medium-protected vehicle—which we will bring into service as soon as possible. Whether we will be able to take away these small platforms without taking away a whole area of capability will need to be thought about very seriously. Snatch has suffered some considerable setbacks; we have lost lives in Snatch Land Rovers. However, I am being told by commanders on the ground that they still need Land Rover-based platforms—weapons-mounted installation kit, or WMIC, and Snatch—and will do for the foreseeable future. Ridgback will not entirely do that job, because it will not be able to get into the narrow, compounded urban areas in Helmand province, however much we would like it to.