Defending with Defender
Under contract to the MOD, Ricardo Vehicle Engineering produced the WMIK variant of Land Rover's 110 series in 1999, and to this day their legendary status still lives on...
FROM its earliest days serving with the British Army, the Land Rover has been pictured stripped down and bristling with machines guns in the mould of the wartime jeeps. In this guise, it has proved to be the ideal light reconnaissance vehicle and the Parachute Regiment were early users of the marque. In its stripped-down configuration, the Series Land Rover could more easily be lifted forward by helicopter or dropped from an aircraft by parachute. During my early days with the Regiment, I remember Lightweight ‘buggies’ being employed along with 109 based ‘guns wagons’ with pedestal mounts for a General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG). These were simply ad hoc solutions modified by the local command workshops. Perhaps the first properly designed variants I recall were the recce 90s specially modified for the Pathfinders of 5th Airborne Brigade. These featured a roll bar, stowage bins and proper gun mounts although underneath they were largely standard. Then in 1999 came the WMIK, or Weapons Mount Installation Kit, the acronym for the first factory-produced Reconnaissance Land Rover to be taken into British service. Note: the similar SAS DPV Land Rovers were converted from standard V8 HPCU 110s by Marshals.
The WMIK was manufactured with assistance from Ricardo Engineering and based on the standard Wolf TUM 110. Inspired by the US Army’s Ranger Special Operations Vehicle (RSOV), it featured a strengthened chassis and combined roll cage and rear ring mount for weapons. Designed for Reconnaissance & Fire Support it could initially be equipped with a GPMG, HMG or a Milan Antitank System with an additional GPMG for the commander.
A massive step forward from the workshop modified vehicles that came before it. It even had a tailor-made foul weather canopy. Having once driven a stripped down Land Rover from Otterburn to Aldershot, wrapped in Gortex, I was particularly impressed with this feature. Powered by the standard 300Tdi from the Wolf it could reach 99 mph on road and weighed 3.35 tonnes.
The Para Battalions of 16 Air Assault Brigade were amongst the earliest units to receive the WMIK and their first introduction to operations came during the NATO mission to Macedonia. This was swiftly followed by their use on Operation Barras in Sierra Leone. Despite these early deployments the WMIK truly come of age during Operation Telic in 2003 where they acquitted themselves well in the harsh desert conditions of Southern Iraq. For the lightly equipped paratroopers, these well-armed and highly mobile Land Rovers were a game changer. Available in significant numbers they equipped the Patrols, Machine Gun and Antitank Platoons and were employed for reconnaissance, patrolling and escort duties.
In the Insurgency following the war, however, the increasing use of IEDS highlighted the vehicle’s vulnerability. During the following deployment to Afghanistan, these issues came to the fore and number of WMIKS were lost both to IEDS and small arms fire. Clearly, something had to be done and an interim fix was to apply flexible Kevlar panels to the vulnerable points. A more convincing answer to the problem came in the form of the, E-WMIK (Enhanced) deployed from 2007. This featured a Modular Armour Protection Installation Kit, (MAPIK), essentially a soft armour package, with additional underbelly protection. A full Bowman radio fit was also included pushing the total weight to 4.1 tonnes. This didn’t help the cross country ability in the Afghan hinterland, already an issue given the WMIK’S narrow tyres.
The later R-WMIK (Refurbished) provided a much better solution and began to reach the troops in late 2007. This re-engineered version came with enhanced blast and mine protection with the underbelly armour now incorporated into the chassis rather than a simple bolt-on. Meanwhile, an uprated suspension system featured ARB locker diffs provided a more stable firing platform. Alloy frangible wheels were also now fitted complete with run flat tyres. Despite these developments, operational experience drove the need for further modifications which lead to the product-improved R-WMIK+ (Plus). Built as new vehicles from the ground-up on a wolf chassis by Land Rover and Ricardo this final version featured a wide range of enhancements. Firstly the body was widened and an improved suspension fitted along with a new heavy-duty rear axle. The 300Tdi engine was uprated from 2.5 to 2.8 and now drove through a 4 speed ZF automatic gearbox. The combined roll cage and weapon mount were modified for extra rollover protection and a composite armour protection package fitted including armoured doors. Extra seating now allowed for a fourth crewman but all up weight had increased to 4.7 tonnes. The R-WMIK+ was delivered from 2010 but was not without its problems. The uprated engines had a tendency to overheat and the increase in weight led to gearbox failures and reliability issues pointing to the fact that the limits of the design had probably been reached. Meanwhile, the challenging terrain encountered in Helmand and the need for greater load capacity meant the WMIK was increasingly supplanted by the purpose-built Jackal.
Roll forward to 2018 and the Combat Power Demonstration at Copehill Down, which I was covering on behalf of the Parachute Regiment. 3 Para, provided the demonstration troops and it was clear that their Jackal 2s was now the vehicle of choice in the light patrol role. So was this the end of the line for the WMIK Land Rover, well, at least it certainly looked that way. Then recently I heard rumours that the Parachute Battalions might be re-adopting the WMIK due to its greater air-portability. This was confirmed by images from Exercise Askari Storm in Kenya showing 3 Para WMIKS emerging from the back of a C130 Hercules. So it seems the WMIK story isn’t quite over yet and they continue to serve on with our high readiness Parachute Battalions. In this role, they carry on a long tradition of armed Land Rovers serving with Airborne Forces and long may it be so.