The Land Rover Wolf is a utility vehicle in service with numerous armed forces around the globe. The vehicle is famous for being the primary utility vehicle of the British Army.
According to Ex-Military Land Rover Association the term "Wolf" is a generic term used by Land Rover to cover their recent range of vehicles. The name has not been adopted by the Armed Forces. The correct title for this range of vehicles is Higher Specification (HS) of which their are twenty-three variants. . The term "Wolf" should not be confused with the militarised Mercedes Geländewagen based "Wolf" marketed by Rheinmetall Defence
The Wolf is a militarised version of the Land Rover Defender. Designated as Truck Utility Light (TUL) and Truck Utility Medium (TUM), the Wolf carries a variety of crews, equipment and communication and information systems for commanders.
Some Wolf Land Rovers are winterised and waterproofed: a snorkel allows the vehicle to wade through water up to windscreen level and an engine fluids heater is fitted to pre-warm the engine – along with the other modifications to enable the vehicle and crew to operate in extreme conditions. Other vehicles are stripped down and fitted with roll cages and weapons mounts – the Weapons Mount Installation Kit – for use as reconnaissance and close fire support vehicles. Typically the vehicle will carry one 12.7 mm Heavy Machine Gun and a 7.62 mm General Purpose Machine Gun. In late 2006, the MoD announced it was purchasing 40 new belt fed Grenade Machine Guns ( HK GMG ) made by Heckler and Koch that can fire up to 360 grenades per minute up to 1.5 km away, they are to be mounted on Wimiks in Afghanistan. More orders may follow depending on performance.
Distinctive air intake on the Wolf
The vehicles have become eminent as the symbol of British forces in Iraq. In keeping with their hearts and minds philosophy they were chosen for patrol duties instead of armoured fighting vehicles such as the Challenger 2 MBT and the Warrior IFV. In British military service they have become known as Snatch Land Rovers. Following a spate of incidents, there has been concern that the unarmoured nature of the Wolf exposes the crews to excessive danger.
Currently the Land Rover is being replaced by the now British built Pinzgauer in some utility roles and the new Alvis Panther is set to replace the Wolf in armoured.
Land Rover Wolf
General characteristics
Crew 2+4 passengers
Length 5.17 m
Width 2.49 m
Height 2.63 m
Weight 1.60 tonnes
Armour and armament
Armour
Main armament 12.7mm heavy machine gun
Secondary armament 7.62mm general purpose machine gun
Mobility
Power plant Rover V8 engine
122 hp (91 kW)
Suspension Wheel 4×4
Road speed 96 km/h
Power/weight hp/tonne
Range 510 km
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