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Defence Procurement

We are not listening exclusively to the procurement experts in the MOD. We are listening to commanders on operations—the people who have to do the job that we have given them to do. Snatch was upgraded and refurbished in 2006. I am not decrying the Mastiff, which is a great vehicle. People who have suffered attacks while inside it have a huge amount of confidence in its capability. However, any level of armour can be overcome, potentially including the Mastiff's, and Mastiff cannot go to certain places or do certain things. The hon. Gentleman is saying that we do not have vehicles designed for Afghanistan, but Mastiff was designed and procured specifically with Afghanistan in mind. Ridgback will be more capable than Mastiff—smaller and able to go to places that Mastiff cannot—but it will be considerably larger than a Land Rover-based vehicle.