UNITED KINGDOM — Jaguar Land Rover and General Motors are among the automotive firms bidding for a £900m UK Ministry of Defence contract to supply thousands of 4x4 vehicles to the armed forces. The new trucks will be used across the army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force for reconnaissance, patrol and logistics missions, with first deliveries expected in 2030.

The contract covers an initial tranche of about 3,000 vehicles, including patrol trucks, logistics trucks and armoured reconnaissance models, expected to eventually replace the combined 7,800 Land Rovers and Austrian-made Pinzgauer trucks in military use. Companies have not yet been told how many vehicles they will need to supply. The fleet being replaced has been out of production since 2016.

JLR has not produced military vehicles since the classic Land Rover Defender line closed its Solihull factory a decade ago, and the new Land Rover Defender model is built at a plant in Slovakia. The company is now seeking to re-enter the sector with a bid centred on UK-designed vehicles.

"We will again begin supplying UK-designed and -engineered light logistics vehicles for people and equipment transportation for the defence and blue light sectors." said Mark Cameron, Managing Director at JLR. "We will be exploring potential partnerships, including with organisations like the Ministry of Defence." he added.

General Motors is tabling a bid in partnership with BAE Systems and NP Aerospace. GM does not have a UK factory, and its bid would involve Chevrolet-based trucks produced in the US being shipped to Britain for military modifications.

"There is an opportunity to re-establish and reinvigorate that relationship." said Gilbert Nelson, Vice President for Sales and Marketing at GM's defence business. Nelson said the consortium was making an effort to maximise UK content in its bid. "We're interested in competing wherever we can be competitive." he said.

Other bidders include Ineos, which makes the Grenadier 4x4 for the civilian market, in partnership with SMT; Babcock using a modified Toyota model; Rheinmetall with a Mercedes 4x4; and General Dynamics with a Ford pickup. Ineos is hoping to win the contract and extend the availability of the Grenadier to as many governments as possible.

"We are committed to ensuring British industry plays a central role in delivering the next generation of light mobility vehicles expected to be in the hands of soldiers by 2030." a government spokesperson said. Defence spending across Europe, including Britain, rose by 14% last year to $864bn (£638bn), according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Renault said it is repurposing part of its Le Mans chassis plant to make drones for the French government, one of several European automotive manufacturers moving toward defence production.