Military: Cry Wolf
Defender Wolf 110 is 18-years-old
Bob Morrison explains why the UK’s pack of veteran Defender Wolfs will roam on for years
OVER THE last few years the ‘ twittering classes’ – armchair warriors who use their fingers and thumbs to express opinions on matters, which they believe they are expert in – have been writing off the military utility Land Rover. They seem to be under the misapprehension that it has been replaced by an armoured vehicle. In reality, of course, as the images on these pages show, the Defender Truck Utility Medium (TUM) is not only in widespread use, but 18 years since it entered service, is an indispensable asset supporting the UK’s Lead Armoured Task Force.
Here at LRM we are well aware that the ‘ubiquitous utility’ is still alive and kicking, rather than having been consigned to the scrapheap as some would have you believe. Indeed, last autumn when Patrick and I were up at the Warcop Training area in Cumbria covering the Army Reserves live-firing heavy machineguns from WMIK Land Rovers, we spent time looking at the hard top and soft top TUM Defenders supporting the Royal Yeomanry to ensure we were up to speed on latest configurations.
The Truck Utility Light (TUL) version of the Wolf, known as the Defender 90 XD by the manufacturer, is fast disappearing from service. As we will see in next month’s issue however, a some of these models are still in use with the Regular Army. About one in five of the 8000-strong Wolf fleet were short wheelbase models, but unlike the long wheelbase 110 model, did not offer sufficient space in the rear for a full BOWMAN tactical communications system package to be fitted.
“The Defender TUM is still alive
and kicking”
So, when Land Rover fleet numbers were thinned out, the TUL was seen as being less desirable than the TUM.
Back in November 1991 when MoD Tender No. LV2a/088 was issued – the list of invited companies was published January 8, 1992 – it was stated that minimum payload for the TUL should be 0.5 tonnes and for the TUM 1.2 tonnes. Although the process to procure what we now know as BOWMAN, the system which replaced the CLANSMAN family of radios, commenced in 1989. It would take 15 years for it to be fully accepted for service and by then it had expanded dramatically in size and weight to give a much better secure data transfer capability than was envisioned in the pre-internet era when it was conceived.
I will go into this in a little more detail next month, when I cover the Wolf 90 in current service, with the benefit of hindsight though it is pretty obvious that the 1991 decision to procure both short and long wheelbase – light and medium – utility trucks was a mistake. This explains why very few TUM models, aka Wolf 110 vehicles, are now cast unless they are clearly beyond cost-effective repair.
When the Wolf fleet order was finally announced on January 18, 1996 (it would not enter service until April 1, 1997), it was still intended that the fleet should serve for around 12 years and then be relegated to reserve stocks for a few years more. As the original plan had been to phase Wolf manufacture over five years, the last ones off the production line should only have reached their 12th birthday last year. By 1997 though,
even the very youngest examples of the Armed Forces’ fleet of Series III Land Rovers were approaching 15 and as the mid-1980s One-Ten and Ninety batch was already 12-years-old, Wolf production was compressed into an 18 month timeframe.
By October 1998 all 7900-plus Wolf Defenders had been manufactured and accepted for service. Although sufficient parts had been retained to build a follow-on batch for the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps, a decision was taken by Solihull to scrap the jigs and presses as UK MoD stated it foresaw no future requirement for replacement Land Rovers. With no other customers for the non-standard Wolf on the order books, not least because few prospective military clients required their vehicles to endure the MoD’s punishing reliability cycle, and most were happy with slightly militarised versions of the core model Defender, Land Rover’s decision to call it a day on Wolf production was logical.
Eighteen years down the line from the Wolf achieving Initial Operating Capability – it being ready to go into operational service – there is no indication that a replacement will be ordered over the next decade. Current projections are that the fleet may be expected to soldier on until 2030. By then even the youngest will be 31-years-old which, even by Land Rover standards and reputation for longevity, is pretty good going. Though not exceptional as several Series IIA military Land Rovers, which came close to achieving this age before being demobbed.
Over the lifespan of the Wolf legislation, changes on the Health & Safety and Duty of Care side have forced UK MoD to introduce modifications to ensure that a vehicle type, which by rights should have been relegated to reserve stocks several years ago, can continue to serve for another ten to 15 years. None of these affect performance or capability, but they do keep our old friend Elvin Zaifety under his stone to some extent.
The first modification, which is quite basic and is easy to spot, is the fabric sling which the side-mounted spare wheel sits inside. This was introduced to make it easier for a soldier to swap the heavy pierced steel wheel and to reduce the possibility of accidents and back damage. When the sling first appeared some soldiers made derogatory comments about it solely being a modification to help weaker female troops, but in reality even roughie-toughie men could put their back out quite easily if they twisted the wrong way when lifting the spare.
The second modification is pretty much invisible unless you look closely at the Land Rover’s floor and spot the thicker rubber mats. This, too, is an H&S consideration and is intended to reduce noise levels inside the vehicle to protect the occupants’ hearing. Some might think this strange, as the tanks and guns soldiers are equipped with are very noisy indeed, but the possible cumulative detrimental effect of spending hours in a moving vehicle with minimal soundproofing, can be very serious indeed.
Just like the soundproofing, the third modification to the Wolf 110 is not immediately noticeable, but if you look closely behind the windscreen pillars you should spot near vertical tubing. This is CROPS, the Cab RollOver Protection System, and was introduced to give the same degree of protection in the event of a roll to driver and front seat passenger/commander, as troops strapped in the rear have been afforded since the introduction of the Wolf. Incidentally, the roll-cage design of the Wolf R-WMIK and R-WMIK+ conversions (see the February 2015 issue) has also been revised to give greater protection to the front seat occupants.
Unfortunately I don’t have a crystal ball, so I cannot say just how long the Wolf 110 will actually remain in service. Based on the downsizing of Britain’s Armed Forces though and the problems linked with reduced defence spending to help fund increasingly demanding healthandsocialwelfarebudgetrequirements, I do not doubt that much of the Truck Utility Medium fleet will have to soldier on into the next decade. With UK production of the Defender shortly ceasing, some may be hoping to pick up a good condition TUM from Government sales agents Witham Specialist Vehicles Ltd. However with few being cast and a good 17-year-old example commanding £15,750 plus VAT, maybe not!