All the old Warthog/Bronco/ATTC threads were locked.. So here it
is the latest news not reported in the Straits Times.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4596008&c=LAN&s=TOP
U.K. Warthog Armored Truck Delayed
By ANDREW CHUTER
Published: 23 Apr 2010 11:34
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LONDON - Introduction of a new Singaporean-built armored vehicle
destined for the British Army in Afghanistan is behind schedule,
according to the Ministry of Defence's procurement minister Quentin
Davis.
Despite promises to speed up delivery of the Warthog to British forces, there continue to be delays in
the project. (U.K. MINISTRY OF DEFENCE)
Last year, Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised to speed up the
delivery of the articulated Warthog vehicles
to better protect the troops fighting the Taliban. Just over 110
Warthogs were ordered in a 2008 deal valued at 150 million pounds
($230 million) between Singapore Technologies Kinetics and the
Ministry of Defence.
Related Topics
* Europe
* Asia & Pacific Rim
* Land Warfare
The Warthogs, purchased as an urgent operational requirement, were
meant to replace the smaller and less protected BAE Systems Viking
Mk1 machines in theater starting this month.
In an interview last month, Davis, who keeps a scale model of
Warthog on the coffee table of his MoD
office, admitted the program had suffered delays.
The first Warthogs were handed over to the British on time last
year from the Singapore factory of ST Kinetics, but the vehicle
failed to pass British acceptance tests. The first unit slated to
get the Warthog, a Royal Dragoon Guards
regiment, is deploying to Afghanistan without it.
In response to a March 11 question in Parliament, Davis said no
Warthogs had been delivered to the land forces by that date. He
said delivery was to be wrapped up by autumn.
An MoD spokesman said the Dragoon Guards had trained on the
vehicles and they were on "track for delivery in the summer" where
they would be on the front lines.
Other sources said the vehicles could be up to six months behind
schedule.
A spokeswoman for Thales UK, which has a 20 million pound vehicle
integration contract with ST Kinetics, said that training vehicles
have been handed over to the British military.
"So far, we have delivered the required number of training vehicles
to the MoD and continue to work on the Warthog at our west Wales site," she said.
Industry and MoD sources said 2 tons of armor have been added to
the 19-ton vehicle to counter improvised explosive devices in
Helmand province. That resolved the issue of blast protection but
has created knock-on problems with reliability, and wear and tear
on components.
The MoD spokesman said the vehicles were "undergoing extensive
reliability trials along with integration activities."
The Warthogs have been undergoing trials at the armed forces
Armored Trials and Development Unit at Bovington in Dorset for
several months.
The Singaporean company wouldn't comment on why the Warthog program was behind schedule, but in a statement,
Patrick Choy, executive vice president-international marketing,
acknowledged the vehicle would not enter service until later this
year.
"ST Kinetics is working closely with the MoD and Thales UK to make
Warthog the most advanced all-terrain vehicle
of its class. We are pleased to know that the British soldiers in
Afghanistan will soon receive improved protection against mines and
increased mobility for all operations when Warthog enters service later in the year," Choy
said.
Warthog is the first armored vehicle Britain
has purchased from an Asian company.
Brown has mentioned the platform more than once in response to
criticism from political opponents and others over Britain's record
in equipping its forces in Afghanistan.
Last September, Brown announced that Warthog
deliveries would be accelerated. The details of that move were
never released, but industry executives said they believed the
government was looking at compressing the program to get final
deliveries earlier than planned rather than speed introduction of
the first vehicles.
Warthog is an uprated version of STK's Bronco
tracked all-terrain vehicle, which is in service with the
Singaporean armed forces.
The deal was part of a 700 million pound package of urgent
operational equipment upgrades announced for Afghanistan in 2008 by
then-Defence Secretary John Hutton.
The British ordered a version with better armor, longer range,
different weapons and other changes.
The British Royal Marines and the Army already operate the Viking
Mk1 in Afghanistan. The vehicle has been criticized for its lack of
protection. The British ordered 24 of the improved Viking II
vehicles that had lost out to Warthog to
replace the earlier model. The last of those Mk II vehicles were
delivered recently, and MoD sources said about half have been
deployed to Afghanistan with the Royal Marines.
