The United Kingdom’s Defense Minister, Ben Wallace, announced on the eighth of this month that the United Kingdom would send armored Mastiff a Ukraine.
The number of these heavy armored vehicles of the type MRAP (Ambush protected by mine), which was acquired by the United Kingdom to protect army units deployed in Afghanistan.
The Mastiff is a 6×6 heavy armored vehicle based on the Cougar 6×6 from US Troop Protection, designed for troop protection, which can carry a crew of two and eight soldiers. You can receive mounts with medium and heavy machine guns or automatic grenade launchers. It is designed to provide high mobility for patrols or convoys and has a maximum speed of 90 km/h.
under the name of Protected Mobility Vehicles or Protected Mobility VehiclesThe British Army has approximately 2,200 vehicles of various classes in service, including 700 Mastiffs and Ridgbacks (4×4 version), which have a maintenance contract until 2024.
Mastiff 6×6 (British Ground Army)
In contrast, there are two versions of Mastiff, and Protected Patrol Vehicle o PPV, a Cougar 6×6 vehicle manufactured by US Force Protection and modified in the UK by NP Aerospace, which began arriving in Afghanistan in December 2006. An upgraded version of the Mastiff 2 began publication in June 2009. Another version of this Mastiff called 2 Protected eyes (Protected Eyes) designed for Talisman counter-IED programme. It is equipped with a remote protection workstation M151, a frontal anti-mine device, an electro-optical sensor and a Micro Air UAV used for close reconnaissance.
Even with the future
In July 2020, the Minister for Defense Acquisitions, Jeremy Coen, announced in the British Parliament that the fleet of MRAP vehicles, including the Mastiff, Ridgback and Wolfhound (a freighter version of the Mastiff), would be phased out. . This measure is part of the Land Fleet Improvement Plan 2017, according to which, at the time of the announcement, 2,831 vehicles had already been decommissioned, with the Mastiff Fleet and Derivative Fleet being next.
However, a short time ago, in May, NP Aerospace signed a contract of this type Urgent Capacity Requirement (UCR) to upgrade 12 Mastiffs worth £7 million for the British Army for deployment to Mali. These Mastiffs and Ridgbacks received improvements in navigation, suspension, steering, brakes and central tire pressure control, with the larger tires. (Joss M. Navarro Garcia)
Photo: A mastiff promoted for use in Mali (NP Aerospace)
Copyright © Grupo Edefa SA Total or partial reproduction of this article without prior permission and license from the publishing company is prohibited.