The British Army will soon deploy new heavy recovery vehicles and trailers based on the 32 ton truck produced by MAN Truck & Bus UK Ltd. The new vehicles will be capable of retrieving the heaviest vehicles on operations. Such heavy vehicles were required to support the Mastiff heavy protected wheeled vehicle, the medium protected combat vehicle and other wheeled vehicles deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years. 288 Recovery Vehicles will be delivered with 69 Recovery trailers to equip troops on operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan where required.
Powered by a 440Hp, 10.5litre, 6 cylinder turbo diesel engines, the new recovery vehicles will be a powerful replacement for the existing Foden fleet. They are fully compliant with the latest emissions legislation (Euro 4) without the need for fuel additives, and can also operate, without preparation, on aviation fuel. The vehicle has an 8×8 wheel drive and self levelling suspension to negotiate rough terrain. The vehicle can be fitted with appliqué armor packs to protect the crew from ballistic and blast threat. It also comes ready for a BOWMAN radio installation. The recovery mission equipment includes cranes and winches, designed by ECA based in Gerrads cross, London. It is manufactured and bolted to the main chassis by Atlas Terex, based in Motherwell, Scotland. The new recovery vehicle is capable of lifting 15 tons at a distance of 2.3 meters, and can tow a 44 ton vehicle.
The procurement of the heavy recovery vehicles and trailers is part of a £1.3Bn Support Vehicle (SV) procurement program designed to modernize the Army’s logistical backbone with 7,285 new trucks and utility vehicles. Under this program all military branches will receive a common cargo and recovery platform that will increase the military materiel lift/distribution and recovery capability. The program is procuring a fleet of vehicles consisting of 42 variants but effectively based around the Light, Medium and Heavy Cargo Vehicles (6, 9 and 15 ton respectively), the 7,000 litre Unit Support Tanker, the Recovery Vehicle and the Recovery trailer. These vehicles will replace the in-service 4, 8 and 14 ton cargo vehicles and the 3 in-service recovery vehicle types.
An armored version of the vehicle was displayed at the UOR demonstration in September, 2008. (photo above)
