Ineos Automotive has joined forces with two British military vehicle specialists to propose a Grenadier-based light military vehicle that has been designed to replace the army's traditional Land Rover, which is being phased out after nearly 70 years' service.
The new vehicle is called Grenadier MRLV (for Multi-Role Light Vehicle). It is closely based on Ineos's staple 4x4 - already renowned for durability in extreme conditions - but is understood to be configurable in at least nine different variants.
In an exclusive recent viewing, Autocar was shown a crew-cab, flat-bed MRLV prototype closely related to the Quartermaster pick-up. The vehicle had retractable legs that would allow its modular bed to be detached and deployed at a specific site to provide, for example, a platform for mounting weapons or launching drones.
The MRLV project's partners believe the Grenadier's combination of an easily extendable ladder chassis plus heavy-duty wheels and live axles at both ends, together with height-adjustable air suspension and a modern BMW diesel engine and transmission, give it the high-level capability and flexibility a military vehicle needs.
UK-based military engineering specialist SMT Defence, which already creates mission-critical vehicles for elite and specialist military use, has joined the collaboration to design and deliver the vehicles. The other partner is NMS UK, which is currently involved in UK-based military vehicle production of many types and will deliver the vehicles "at scale".
The partners stress that Ineos's UK ownership and the two specialist firms' onshore location create "a UK-anchored industrial collaboration".
Mike Whittington, Ineos Automotive's chief commercial officer, said: "A defining advantage of the collaboration is its British ownership, onshore assembly and local supply chain. This delivers the strategic benefits of operational independence and resilience."
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has traditionally maintained a fleet of about 7800 Land Rovers and Austrian-built Pinzgauer light trucks across the three services but announced recently that "a technologically advanced successor" will start replacing them by 2030. The MoD plans an initial fleet of around 3000 'soft-skin' vehicles for reconnaissance, patrol and logistics. Armoured versions are likely to come later.
A UK military deal and the potential resulting export demand could bring a big benefit to Ineos Automotive, which currently builds its production cars at Hambach in eastern France. Although production has risen strongly this year, CEO Lynn Calder says production has still not reached the plant's 30,000-unit annual capacity.
Ineos's MRLV prototype is likely to face strong competition for the MOD contract from a number of rivals, including US-based General Dynamics, JLR (with versions of the latest Land Rover Defender) and a Toyota vehicle based on the Land Cruiser and Hilux. The MoD has already staged a "farewell party" for its outgoing Land Rover and is believed to be likely to decide on the new vehicle before the end of this year.
How to turn a 4x4 into an MoD 4x4
Gary Hedges, Ineos's military and blue light vehicle specialist, reckons the standard Grenadier gets surprisingly close to fulfilling the MoD's requirement for a new, advanced light vehicle but says the strategically modified MRLV "takes it to the next level".
Outside The Grenadier pub in Belgravia, London, where the original Ineos 4x4 idea was born, Hedges walks around a business-like, drab-coloured, flat-bed military prototype, pointing out its heavy-duty chassis, wheels, axles, tyres and height-adjustable air suspension.
According to Hedges, this is just one of many configurations planned for the military Grenadier, which has already undergone a near-200,000-mile programme of torture tests to check for body cracks or deformation, and which can exceed the MoD's 3.5-tonne towing standard by a full tonne.
Hedges, who knows military vehicles well from a 26-year Royal Artillery career, draws attention to the Grenadier's versatility as well as its toughness.
"We can make a single-cab version, of course," he says, "plus lots of different body configurations. This one can carry a 220-litre fuel tank that gives it a range of 1000 miles.
"If needed, the engines can be de-rated to Euro 4 exhaust standards so it doesn't need AdBlue and can run on aviation turbine fuel."
Hedges describes the Grenadier MRLV as what the Defender should have been: "Say I'm biased, if you like, but the fact is this is the best 4x4 I've ever had. Our job has been to produce the ideal vehicle for soldiers to fight from, and I believe we've achieved it."
