30 May 24. Babcock International Group (Babcock), the defence company and Hobson Industries, the engineering company have signed an agreement to work together with the aim to resolve obsolescence in military Land Rovers. Babcock provide the through-life support and management for 60 percent of the British Army’s vehicles with a focus on providing innovative solutions to long standing supply chain challenges which routinely impact the availability of British Army vehicles such as the Land Rover Wolf platform.
Hobson Industries is an innovative and highly technical engineering business that specialise in the through life support of the Land Rover Defender (Wolf) platform. This partnership draws upon the combined experience of Babcock’s maintenance & repair capabilities, with Hobson’s subject matter expertise on the Wolf platform.
With an initial focus on the Land Rover Wolf, the partnership will bring forward a wide range of modern technical solutions in the areas of design, manufacture, remanufacturing and repair. This will increase the availability of assets for the front-line commands, increase reliability and enable the most cost-effective solution for the British Army.
The suite of technical and digital solutions now available through this partnership provide an unprecedented opportunity to reverse the trend of obsolescence impacting the defence fleet.Jon Morley, Director of Material Availability Services at Babcock, said: “Finding modern, sustainable solutions to some long-standing challenges will enhance the operational capability of the British Army. Hobson Industries are subject matter experts and we’re delighted to be formalising our relationship with them.”
Peter Hobson, Managing Director at Hobson Industries said, “This framework agreement builds on a long-term association of mutual respect, joint skills and capabilities and enables Hobson Industries and Babcock to work more closely together to achieve a common goal to deliver excellence of service and capabilities to UK Armed Forces.”
BATTLESPACE Comment: The availability of the approximately 3600 Land Rover Wolf vehicles has long been a problem for the MoD due to spares availability and obsolescence. It is believed that there are as many as several thousand vehicles off the road. This will mean that the fleet will be asset managed throughout. Hobson Industries has had an Asset Managed system in place for many years to supply renewed parts which has solved some of the issues. However, key parts such as chassis remain difficult to source. This agreement will solve these critical supply issues and bring vehicles left in store back into service. However, this announcement also signals the MoD’s intention to keep the Land Rover Wolf in service beyond 2030 and puts a question mark over the In Service Date (ISD) for the GSUPS Wolf Replacement Programme which appears stalled after the initial MoD brief in March 2023. This may be due to the clash of the UK’s Electric Vehicle strategy requiring manufacturers to provide 30% of their production to be electric. The introduction of electric vehicles to the MoD’s fleet is a long way off due to the lack of mobile battlefield charging points and general electrification policy. The shift appears to be going to a hydrogen-based vehicle solution where manufacturers such as INEOS are producing vehicles. Babcock has provided the MoD with a fleet-wide solution for GSUPS with its Toyota-based 4×4 and 6×6 solution using naturally aspirated engines. Other contenders include Mercedes Benz ‘G’ Wagen and the Rheinmetall Mercedes Caracal. This contract may also cause a delay in the forthcoming Land Rover parts contract.