Armoured cars on Army wish list

Daily Mail 28th September 2008

The Ministry of Defence has said it hopes to buy hundreds of new armoured vehicles to protect soldiers against roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The ministry is reported to have asked the Treasury for £500m to replace the Army's snatch Land Rovers.

These modified thin-skinned vehicles are designed to withstand small arms fire, but have been criticised for offering insufficient protection.

Reports say the new vehicles could be in the field by the start of 2009.

The News of the World said that among the heavily-armed vehicles on the ministry's shopping list are 100 Jackal patrol 4x4s and 100 supply vehicles, based on the Mastiff patrol vehicle.

Both have been used by troops in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past two years. An MoD spokesman said: "They have saved the lives of countless military personnel".

He confirmed that officials were in talks with the Treasury, but would not comment on the details of the package.

More than 30 soldiers have been killed while patrolling in snatch Land Rovers since 2003. The vehicle was designed for operations in Northern Ireland almost 20 years ago.

Corporal Sarah Bryant, the first British woman killed on duty in Afghanistan, and three male SAS reservists died on 17 June when their Land Rover was destroyed by a landmine.

And in August, Susan Smith, whose son Phillip Hewett died in Iraq in 2005, launched a damages action against the MoD which alleged "failures" over the use of snatch Land Rovers.

In a statement, she said the lightly armoured vehicles were "designed to provide no more than limited protection against ballistic threats, mainly small arms bullets", and offered "little or no protection against improvised explosive devices".

The ministry said then that it was reducing the number of snatches - about 100 have been in use by British troops in Afghanistan.

Our correspondent Caroline Wyatt said roadside bombs were an increasing threat, and some soldiers told her they hesitated about using the vulnerable vehicles while on patrol.