British Army unveils all-terrain 'Pitbull' to take on the Taliban

The British Army has bought 202 "Pitbull" vehicles and will be used in Afghanistan.

The vehicles were made by British company Babcock Marine....

British Army unveils all-terrain 'Pitbull'


By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent
16/03/2008
The Telegraph






Fast, powerful and with a fearsome array of weaponry, it has already been named "Pitbull" by the soldiers who will drive it deep behind enemy lines.

The Army has unveiled its new £200,000 all-terrain vehicle, tailor-made for the hostile terrain of Helmand in Southern Afghanistan.


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Senior officers say the vehicle will greatly enhance the fighting capability of their soldiers, and will save lives.

Armed with a mix of machine guns and an automatic grenade launcher, and with a range of more than 500 miles, the vehicle will be used to hunt down and destroy the Taliban during long range surveillance and reconnaissance operations.

Its crew of three will be able to call in air strikes using onboard communications equipment. The new all-terrain vehicle has a 5.9 litre engine capable of 80mph on roads and 40mph across the Helmand desert.

It has revolutionary air suspension which allows for a comfortable ride even over the roughest of terrain and helps the gunners to hit their targets while on the move.

Known officially as the M-Wmik - Mobility Weapons Mounted Installation Kit - the vehicle will replace the ageing Land Rover Wmiks, variations of which have been in service since the Fifties.


Click to enlarge: Taking the fight to Taliban

The Sunday Telegraph was given an exclusive preview of the vehicle's capabilities on the Army's training area on Salisbury Plain last week.

After almost 48 hours of rain, the terrain had turned into a quagmire but the M-Wmik cut through the clogging mud with ease and the bumps from the deeply rutted track were almost completely absorbed by the suspension.

The driver, Warrant Officer Nick Hartley, said it was easy to handle, with automatic transmission and power steering.

"It's awesome. It does exactly what it says on the tin. Troops will be able to go deep into Taliban territory and hunt them down. It can go anywhere and it is very stable."

The vehicle and crew are protected against mines by reinforced armour plating but the military says its best defence is its manoeuvrability and speed.



First to use the vehicle on operations will be the Pathfinders, from 16 Air Assault Brigade, due to begin arriving in Helmand soon.

The 202 vehicles purchased were made by Babcock Marine, a British engineering company, which also makes ships. Working with the Army, the company procured the vehicle in seven months.

dailymail.co.uk

Moose hunters will love it. I can see it becoming sniper bait in a war zone.

Woof!

Yep!

No cover, no good. Body Armour ain't just for vests. This looks like what happens when you ask engineers for advice in the design, instead of the assholes that have to actually drive it in a war zone.

Pitbull? Looks more like a sitting Duck to me.

That's the whole idea, when a sniper takes them out he gives away his position and the B52's can unload on that position, very clever these Brits.

I don't even see any cup holders.

The first thing I thought was no protection for the soldiers, so what good is it, just a waste of money. A false sense of safety and protection.

I agree.

The first thing I thought was "wow British soldiers are really expendable."

Next was that even a low powered IED would devastate the crew.

I help produce these, they are more armoured than you think, the one you can see is the light weight (basic frame) version, used by special forces who want speed, compared to the landrovers the army uses now, trust me these pitbulls are a welcome change.

It's very hard to believe that they ran an empire once, I think it's referred to as remnant civilization, the imperial decay is obvious. "It has revolutionary air suspension"
That same claim for suspension superiority was made by Buick and others in the thirtys. I think it'll leap off the shelves and into the disposal areas though along with most of the fanatic crew. It's a limey suicide bomb on wheels. The Taleban will what? undergo cardiac arrest laughing at the stupid british, the joke that comes arround every hundred years. Does it come in hard top?

You do know the pit bull is a real dog don't you?

They've sold you a tarted-up industrial tractor pal. A molotov cocktails dream come true. The Tommy Cooker returns. How is it at fording? I don't see the snow plow. Will it be a lethal high tech war winner in fair weather only?

This "Pitbull" looks like a very effective all terrain military vehicle, as long as
your opponents are unarmed....I tried hunting for the armored version online,
and this is what I could find...too open for combat, and too heavy for hunting.

That looks like boiler plate and rivets to me Ron.

I can see the spare now.

Looks a bit exposed but then again we'll see how it works in the field against all the stuff the Taliban throughs at it. Has there been a problem with Taliban snipers in the past? I never heard of anything specific like that really.

rpg, ied, grenade, bean fart, rain. It's the Martyr Mobile.

I'll trust your judgement in this matter. I think volunteers will be rare to nill. Crack may have to be used.