The Ministry of Defence has announced a £71 million contract with NP Aerospace to maintain thousands of military land vehicles over the next four years.
The contract, revealed at the Defence Vehicle Dynamics (DVD) 2024 event, will consolidate the maintenance of more than 15,000 vehicles and create around 100 skilled jobs in Coventry.
The new contract, known as the Conventional Vehicle Systems Spares and Post Design Services (CVSSP), will cover vehicles such as Land Rovers, Pinzgauers, and RWMIKs, some of which have been in service for decades. The agreement is intended to extend the lifespan of these older platforms as new vehicle programmes, such as the Ajax and Boxer, are gradually introduced to the British Army.
Defence Procurement Minister Maria Eagle said the deal would not only secure vital combat capabilities but also streamline the processes involved in repairs and upgrades. “This new contract will help to secure the future of these crucial capabilities, ensuring our soldiers are equipped with cutting-edge firepower, protection, and mobility,” Eagle said.
At the DVD event, the Army’s future fleet of modern armoured vehicles – Ajax, Boxer, and Challenger 3 – were displayed side by side for the first time. More than 1,300 of these vehicles are expected to be delivered by the end of the decade, providing the Army with enhanced fighting power and increased mobility. The Challenger 3, in particular, is being billed as the most lethal tank ever operated by the British Army.
Brigadier Matt Wilkinson, from the Defence Equipment and Support team, praised the long-standing relationship with NP Aerospace. “We have a long-standing relationship with NP Aerospace, and I’m delighted that we are able to continue this partnership,” he said, adding that the contract supports the MOD’s broader Land Industrial Strategy.
With more than £11 billion already invested in armoured vehicle programmes, the UK is looking to modernise its ground forces. The Boxer programme alone is expected to support 400 jobs in the West Midlands and North East Wales, with up to 1,000 positions sustained nationwide.
The CVSSP contract is a significant step in ensuring the Army’s vehicle fleet remains operational and ready for future challenges, as newer vehicles gradually enter service.
I’d have preferred if ABRO were still about, or DSG.
FV432 sustainment programme incoming…
Any news on what we plan to arm Boxer with? I understand it’s replacing Warrior but from what I have read, the only plan right now is to fit a 0.50cal heavy machine gun. I truly hope the powers at be have something more substantial in mind – the 40mm from Ajax perhaps? ….. but I’m not holding my breath.
I have to say, it is a huge beast of a vehicle!!
There is a lot of discussion around this. Personally I’d think the same 40mm makes sense simply because it makes the ammunition supply chain simpler. Imagine the alternative of giving it a 30mm cannon. Then there are two ammunitions types for the logistics systems to have to manage and move forward.
Could the CT40 be fitted to a RWS?
There is no way to fit a 40mm gun to the Boxers bought by UK.
Hi Alex,
How so? If that’s the case what’s our options beyond a simple 0.50 cal?
Because MoD/Industry has procured the Kongsberg RS4 PROTECTOR RWS which cannot take cannons.
Probably .50 HMG and 30mm GMG.
40mm is a long shot because I don’t believe there’s a boxer module with a 40mm turret. If the money magically becomes available we might get a 30mm cannon armed version bought.
There’s a very good discussion of these potential options on Think Defense, should anyone be interested.
I think a boxer module was tested with a Warrior CSP turret, it’s on Think Defence, but that was purely experimental and I don’t think had room for infantry.
A large number of Kongsberg RS4 RWS were procured for Tranche 1 Boxer – they can take MGs and GMGs and ATGMs, but not cannons. The fact that our Boxers do not take cannons means that it is not an IFV. There has been much discussion on this dramatic reduction in firepower for our infantry in the armoured brigades in these pages for a number of years now! The army staff were supposed to investigate ways of increasng Boxer lethality about 3 years ago, but no-one has seen a report! Perhaps Tr2 (and hopefully further Boxer tranches) will be able to carry cannons.
Manufacturers list of possible weapons systems compatible with RS4 –
Browning M2 and WKM-B (12.7 mm), M249 (5.56 mm), M240, UKM-2000C and M134 Gatling (7.62 mm), MK19, MK47 and H&K GMG (40 mm grenade launchers with airburst option), various Non-Lethal effectors. The RS4 allows for M240 (6.62 mm) coax kit or various ATGM integrations.
I thought with RS4 you can upgrade it in service to RS6 standard and so carry a 30mm autocannon?
Not sure. That’s a roundabout solution. Why not just buy RS6 in the first place? A 40mm stabilised CTAS cannon would be better and I understand they were bought for the WCSP programme, so in a shed somewhere!
It does not say much for Babcock’s running of DSG (formally ABRO). The Government must not by happy with their performance for the contract to go elsewhere?
Maybe MoD wanted to break away from the legacy contract fully?
As these vehicles are EOL anyway Babcock wouldn’t have been that interested as it will be pathing up rather than upgrading with number diminishing making it harder to make sense of an existing establishment and organisational profile.
ABRO used to do extending life on Land Rovers eg replacing chassis etc and repairs to WMIK with same facilities as Babcock have now.
My point being that you don’t do chassis replacements in EOL types.
You just take them out of use?
Difficult to know fully what is covered by the contract. Judging solely by the name, this would seem to cover just the supply of spares and PDS services, and not repair activity. If so who does the repair activity – equipment holding units? Babcocks?
I am doubtful of the merits of this contract. The OEM/DA of Pinzgauer is BAE and I am sure that of Land Rover and RWMIK must be Jaguar Land Rover.
This might mean that NP Aerospace acts as a middleman buying spares from those OEMs, adding a handling ‘mark up’ and supplying them to MoD who pay under the contract ie within the £71m.
Also NP will not have the product knowledge that the OEMs has. Will they therefore do a good job of PDS, which has traditionally required in depth knowledge? Will they acquire DA rights from the OEMs, so that they can properly do PDS? How much would that cost NP? If so, the cost is within that £71m.
‘More than 1,300 Ajax, Boxer and Challenger 3’? Surely some mistake? Let us say the exact figure is 1,360.
We are buying 589 Ajax and 148 CR3s, therefore simple arithmetic shows we are buying 623 Boxers.
Certainly Tranche 1 and 2 of Boxer total 623 (523+100)….but the army requirement is for 1,305 Boxers (with funding having been ringfenced (supposedly) for 1,016 Boxers.
The conclusion is obvious …MoD is only buying 623 Boxers instead of the required 1,305, [and as we know will also ditch many hundred Warrior IFVs (625 on MoD’s books at the last count)].
I really hope you’re wrong Graham, as this would leave us woefully short of the required numbers.
But history tells me you’re likely correct.
I’d be interested to see how many and if they buy the armoured cab HMT, as that seems to be a really good vehicle, relatively cheap and versatile.
Alternatively, the full Boxer purchase is to arrive after the end of the decade.
Hopefully. Just need the orders to go in, quite soon.
What happened to the Command Workshops ?
Don’t answer that it’s rhetorical. Seems like we are reinventing the wheel only it’s not round anymore.
Sorry to answer a rhetorical question! I couldn’t help myself. As we both know that’s a phrase from a very long time ago. REME static workshops had a variety of different adjectives in their titles – Command, District, Station or Base. For some reason the rest of the Army found this confusing!
Then an umbrella organisation ABRO was formed but the static workshops were still REME workshops, with mostly civilian staff and commanded by a REME officer. Then ABRO merged with DASA (aircraft support) to form DSG and the REME link was broken. Then DSG was replaced by Babcock Defence and those workshops now had to turn a profit.