Ocelot snatches £100 million MOD contract (Video)22 September 2010
The Ocelot, made by Ricardo, based in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, in partnership with Force Protection Europe, has been selected by the Ministry of Defence to replace the controversial Snatch Land Rover.
The procurement process for the Light Protected Patrol Vehicle (LPPV) was instigated by the last Labour government with an anticipated initial order worth £100 million for 200 vehicles. The first Ocelots should come into service by next year and the contract will secure some 750 British jobs.
The Ocelot is of a modular construction which means it can be easily dismantled and repaired in the field, as well as custom-fitted for key front line roles such as: patrol, ambulance, fire support or logistics. The engine can be removed and replaced in 30 minutes and it only takes two hours to change body "modules" to a different role.
The Ocelot has been designed from scratch to provide an armoured vehicle that has a high resistance to mines but can also drive in extreme off-road conditions.
Graeme Rumbol, Ricardo's defence systems product group director, commented: "The whole architecture has been designed with survivability in mind from the outset rather than having survivability added to it which is what we have seen with most vehicles in Afghanistan."
The vehicle has a V-shaped shell to help deflect attacks from IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and is designed to be driven away from an ambush on three wheels, if necessary.
The Ocelot is able to carry 6 people in the protected rear passenger pod, weighs 7.5 tonnes when loaded and can reach 50 mph in just under 20 seconds.
America and Australia are both said to be interested in potentially large export orders.
Related video: The Ocelot - Light Protected Patrol Vehicle
Author
Michael Richards
Related Companies
Ricardo plc
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