After many years of underinvestment, the UK is injecting significant funding into its land forces over the next decade, most of it being spent on the British Army’s Ground Manoeuvre capability. Christopher F Foss reports on the three major programmes
Over the last few years the United Kingdom has had many false starts in its efforts to replace or upgrade a major part of its armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) fleet.
Many of the current vehicles were designed over 30 years ago and some are much older, soldiering on as a succession of projects – the Future Family of Light Armoured Vehicles (FFLAV), Tactical Reconnaissance Armoured Combat Equipment Requirement (TRACER), the Boxer Multi-Role Armoured Vehicle (MRAV) and most recently the Future Rapid Effect System Utility Vehicle (FRES UV) – all fell by the wayside. Some were cancelled as operational requirements changed, some died as partner countries fell out, and others as funding was reprioritised elsewhere.
