MAN 15t cargo/recovery trucks come into service

Back in 2005/06 the Ministry of Defence placed orders worth £1.35billion with MAN ERF UK to purchase 7,250 cargo and recovery trucks. These support vehicles are to replace the existing vehicle fleets held by all three services and were expected to be in service in 2007 with deliveries spread over the following seven years.

The MoD has announced that 100 of these trucks are in the process of being shipped to the British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) in Canada where British personnel will learn how to drive and maintain them before they are sent to operational theatres around the world. [seems strange that they have to be shipped all the way to the Canadian prairies, though - but then Suffield does sound very attractive, rather like an up-market holiday destination]
The bulk of the trucks (80%) will be going to the Army and the remainder to the Royal Marines and RAF. Some of the features included in the new state-of-the-art vehicles are: air-suspended seats, air-conditioning, the latest in advance diagnostic and fault finding systems, GPS tracking, applique armour to protect the crew from small arms fire and mine blasts and BOWMAN radio equipment. The chassis and cabs are being built at MAN’s plant in Austria before being shipped to the UK to have their bodies and role-specific equipment fitted.

Link> MoD: New trucks on the way for UK Armed Forces
Link> MoD: New Army cargo trucks head for Canada's training fields