Ford is bidding to become a British defence contractor for the first time, putting forward its Ranger pick-up truck to replace the armed forces’ Land Rover Wolf fleet in a £2.5bn Ministry of Defence procurement covering 9,000 vehicles.
The carmaker has teamed up with the American defence contractor General Dynamics and the Shoreham-based engineering specialist Ricardo. It hopes its plant at Dagenham in east London will not only supply engines but also take a share of the work upfitting and reconfiguring militarised versions of the Ranger.
Diesel output at Dagenham
Ford stopped making cars at Dagenham a quarter of a century ago. At its height the factory employed 40,000 people; it now employs 2,000 and still produces hundreds of thousands of diesel engines, typically for the Transit van, which is built in Turkey. In 2021 Ford chose Dagenham for new Transit engines after closing its engine plant in Wales.
Dagenham also makes 55,000 3-litre V6 diesel engines a year for the Ford Ranger and the heavier Ranger Super Duty, which are shipped from its dock on the Thames to final assembly plants in Thailand. Fewer than 5 per cent of new car registrations in the UK have diesel engines, but diesel remains the main fuel for light commercial vehicles.
Lisa Brankin, managing director of Ford Britain, said the Ranger was “a robust, modern, rugged, incredibly capable alternative” to the Land Rover.
What the MoD wants
The procurement envisages a “common base platform”: a single vehicle type that can be configured for several roles, with larger versions to replace the Army’s ageing Pinzgauer transporters. Defence Equipment and Support, the MoD’s procurement arm, has described the requirement in a market engagement notice as a wheeled utility platform for roles now filled by Land Rover and Pinzgauer vehicles.
Roles range from general-purpose utility vehicles to armoured versions for command and control, logistics, troop carrying and frontline tactical mobility. Specialist variants would include battlefield ambulances and “mission systems” vehicles fitted with electronic warfare, detection and communications equipment.
At £2.5bn, the deal would work out at an average of £275,000 per vehicle, including 20-year service and maintenance arrangements.
General Dynamics has two plants in south Wales employing 750 people and is responsible for the Army’s Ajax fighting vehicle and the Foxhound armoured patrol vehicle. For heavier roles, the partners are developing a third-axle variant of the Ranger Super Duty.
Scott Milne, general manager of General Dynamics Land Systems UK, said the contractor’s interest was piqued when Ford began producing the Ranger Super Duty for mining, construction and agriculture. “We could see the boundaries were being pushed by Ford and we were interested in the opportunities,” he said.
“We can maximise an off-the-shelf vehicle and tailor it to the requirements,” Milne said. “And we can do that at pace and with low-risk.”
He added that the contract could open doors abroad. “Other markets, other Nato countries have similar requirements,” he said. “They are waiting to see which way the UK goes. What we do here will set the standard for other markets. There are export opportunities and we could add production in the UK.”
The plant sits in the area where Wes Streeting, the defence secretary, holds his east London parliamentary seat.
Rival bids
Jaguar Land Rover is offering a military version of its new Defender, which it manufactures in Slovakia. Ineos Automotive is pitching its Grenadier, which is made on the French-German border.
BAE Systems has partnered with the defence arm of General Motors on a version of the Chevrolet pick-up used by the US military, in a bid called Team LionStrike that includes the Coventry-based armour specialist NP Aerospace. Babcock is working with the West Country contractor Supacat, which makes the Army’s Jackal, on variants of the Toyota Hilux and Land Cruiser.
The UK arm of Rheinmetall, which builds Boxer infantry vehicles in Telford, is offering a version of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class. Fering Technologies, a start-up in south-west London, is proposing the Pioneer, a hybrid electric vehicle it describes as the only British designed and engineered candidate.
The contest comes as Barclays research finds UK manufacturers reporting rising defence demand. The MoD is reported to be moving towards a shortlist, with a final decision expected by May 2027.
