Military/NGO/responder usage?

[Wilaspira]

Hi, does anyone know whether the military or NGOs or responder services have shown any interest in the Grenadier?  If so how are these being specc’d?  Is there a “special vehicle” department at Ineos?  I ask since such interest would reinforce the credibility and purposefulness of the vehicle

 

[Shaky]

No idea tbh. However I would expect them to be fully rinsing all of the private orders before they start pushing out poverty spec versions for fleet buyers. I would love to see them in the hands of organisations who will beast them. You will know you have a good vehicle when you see a convoy of white Grenadiers marked up with NATO badges driving across your TV screen ? 

 

[Ovrland Bill]

Early on it was reported that Ineos was working on use of the Grenadier by The Halo Trust (land-mine clearing NGO). Have not heard anything lately…

 

[emax]

And in case of a serious crisis they will then probably commandeer private Grenadiers ... ?  ?

(everything seems possible in these days ...)

 

[@nd]

I seem to remember reading something about a specialist  brach of the British army making enquiries about weather all external lights could be turned off for some reason or another. 

 

[Shaky]

[QUOTE username=@nd userid=8993362 postid=1332735906]I seem to remember reading something about a specialist  brach of the British army making enquiries about weather all external lights could be turned off for some reason or another. [/QUOTE]

I assume for covert running. You don’t want to be driving round at night in a war zone with the lights on for obvious reasons. All the old military Land Rovers had convoy lights which were basically low powered red lights. 

 

[Jeremy996]

I doubt the British Army will buy any for soldiers to drive about in as they have gone for fully armoured vehicles in theatre.

Grenadiers in the white fleet, (as opposed to Green Fleet), will depend on the lease costs to start with and the lifetime costs for the long term, as all non-war-y vehicles are operated through a vehicle management company.

UK Special Forces buy what they like! When I was a very junior TA REME craftsman, one of my tasks was to sort out a troublesome Range Rover Classic with a very large Chevy engine, (Overfinch special with some composite armour), that had a very dodgy wiring loom and a nasty habit of turning itself off at speed. 

 

[DCPU]

[QUOTE username=@nd userid=8993362 postid=1332735906All the old military Land Rovers had convoy lights which were basically low powered red lights.

There were two settings on the general light switch, the first gave you convoy and the second gave you convoy and side lights.

Convoy killed all general lights, brake lights and horn and switched on a small white lamp located on the rear diff. The rear of which could be painted white to aid illumination.

You were supposed to focus on this light whilst following in convoy. It could be done if you followed closely with your windows down at low speed. It was always amusing to find out later in a morning who had missed a turn on the plain, got lost or hit a tree.

 

[DCPU]

Let's hope someone at Ineos is preparing a pack to respond to this:

UK GSUP ~ GENERAL SUPPORT UTILITY PLATFORM PROGRAMME

The UK MoD recently issued a Request For Information (RFI) for a GSUP ~ General Support Utility Platform (GSUP) for the British Army

According to the RFI: “The [British] Army are seeking market information as to military light utility platforms as part of an initial scoping of options to replace Land Rover and other similar vehicles as part of the General Support Utility Platform Programme. Companies are invited to provide information on current and developing military utility platforms. Variants of interest include General Support, Ambulance and Fitted for Radio particularly when these are all included within the same vehicle family. Platforms should be no more than 3.5T and be driven on Cat B licence (potentially less ambulance variant).”

UK GSUP ~ General Support Utility Platform Programme | Joint Forces News

The UK MoD recently issued a Request For Information (RFI) for a GSUP ~ General Support Utility Platform (GSUP) for the British Army.

www.joint-forces.com

A good thread on the options, but not a positive overall view for Ineos:

"The Grenadier has a more serious problem. It's niche product that lacks a global supply chain to support it. It will be more expensive to buy and support through-life than the other options listed above. This creates serious programme and operational risk."

https://twitter.com/x/status/1554446144834527233

 

[DCPU]

Well it looks like they did display at the recent DVD 2022 show (Defence industry exhibition). That's quite a toe in the water for potential military sales.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1573208834679930880

 

[klarie]

As far as I remember ther very first Land Rovers had Steering Wheel in the middle like an agricultural tractor. And that was intended because it was meant as an utility vehicle to support people working in the country side. Made from old Jeep and aluminum parts of military aircraft. The interest if military use came up later as Land Rover was proven to work as an offroad vehicle.

The G-Wagon was when it was developed also not directly in focus of the military - Too expensive. Here in Germany at that time they had the Volkswagen Iltis at similar time, the few civilian ones way off expensive.

Later on as G proved to work it became the "Wolf" Today however military vehicles have other requirements - So they need to be protected from IED / Mines etc. A stripped down Grenadier Utility may come of interest once it is shown to work. Definitely a robust purpose built vehicle may be of interest of authority - What s more likely is fire brigade, in Germany DLRG (rescue at water), Mountain Rescue Service known in German speaking areas as Bergwacht .. for these this might be Grenadier an option.

 

[DCPU]

There's certainly employees working on some of these things judging by their job titles.

Maybe even have a few contracts in the bag and awaiting a good time to publicise.

 

[McPharmer II]

There were two representatives of german volunteer fire brigades on the Aufenau presentation. So I guess there will be interests for the IG as a fire fighting vehicle.

 

[rovie]

There were two representatives of german volunteer fire brigades on the Aufenau presentation. So I guess there will be interests for the IG as a fire fighting vehicle.

Too expensive for the impoverished municipalities in Germany.

 

[WhiteBear]

Too expensive for the impoverished municipalities in Germany.

Don‘t think so, the fire brigades get good and not cheap stuff with many extras. The cars have to last for years, few kilometers and well maintained they are good value on the second hand market later.

 

[emax]

It likely depends a lot on the preferences of the "Stadtbrandinspektor" (city fire chief). ;-)

 

[rovie]

Don‘t think so, the fire brigades get good and not cheap stuff with many extras. The cars have to last for years, few kilometers and well maintained they are good value on the second hand market later.

My perception is different. In the past, fire brigades were granted more money by the communes. Quality vehicles from Mercedes Benz, Magirus or MAN were bought, which could then remain in the inventory for a long time. Today, the fire brigades are no longer in such a good financial position. In many vehicle halls, therefore, you see mid-range vehicles from Iveco and transporters from Fiat. But that also applies to the industrial companies. The good old Magirus truck is a thing of the past. Today it is and remains a simple Iveco, even if a Magirus logo is supposed to raise the quality.

 

[bemax]

Too expensive for the impoverished municipalities in Germany.

This is just not true. There is quite a lot of money spent here in Germany in all varieties of fire brigades (professional, volunteer and industrial).
The money which is spend for the trucks is not bad and the trucks are well equipped as soon as the chief is really pushing the politicians.
On top there are special programs from the state and the countries e.g. for special scenarios like vegetation fires and floods.

 

[bemax]

My perception is different. In the past, fire brigades were granted more money by the communes. Quality vehicles from Mercedes Benz, Magirus or MAN were bought, which could then remain in the inventory for a long time. Today, the fire brigades are no longer in such a good financial position. In many vehicle halls, therefore, you see mid-range vehicles from Iveco and transporters from Fiat. But that also applies to the industrial companies. The good old Magirus truck is a thing of the past. Today it is and remains a simple Iveco, even if a Magirus logo is supposed to raise the quality.

That’s why Magirus lost some of its share of the market the last 15 years.

 

[DedkovCZE]

I read somewhere they would have to change engine 'cause BMW doesn't want to supply army again.