First Ten of 120 EOD and ECM Vehicles

Marshall Land Systems has delivered the first ten (of 120) specialist military vehicles to the UK MoD, the company announced on 22 September.

Eight variants of the vehicles, focused on explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and electronic countermeasure (ECM) capabilities, will be based throughout the UK, Cyprus and Gibraltar, covering a wide variety of operational situations. The MoD announced Initial Operating Capability for the bomb disposal vehicle this week. This vehicle is the final component in the MoD’s Gasket 3 fleet programme – a £60 million ($68 million) project inducting 300 new vehicles, from first response platforms to a new 4×4 medium scale vehicle.

Delivery of these ten vehicles is responsive to MoD’s efforts to replace its aging so-called Wedgewood vehicle fleet. Users have had the opportunity to comment throughout the development process and this week noted that many of their suggestions have been incorporated into the delivered configuration. Considering the impact of major trials programmes and the delays imposed by COVID and the global supply chain crisis, the achievement is all the more remarkable. “This programme has not been a straightforward one for us, made even more difficult by the disruption caused by COVID-19 and the conflict in Ukraine. Reaching this point has taken incredibly hard work from a large number of people […] we should all take pride in enhancing a critical UK capability,” observed Gary Maynehan, Marshall Land Systems’ Managing Director.