UK WARTHOG ARMOURED TRUCK DELAYED

Introduction of a new Singaporean-built armored vehicle destined for the British Army in Afghanistan is behind schedule, according to the Ministry of Defence's procurement minister Quentin Davis, writes Defense News

Last year, Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised to speed up the delivery of the articulated Warthog vehicles to better protect the troops fighting the Taliban. Just over 110 Warthogs were ordered in a 2008 deal valued at 150 million pounds ($230 million) between Singapore Technologies Kinetics and the Ministry of Defence.

The Warthogs, purchased as an urgent operational requirement, were meant to replace the smaller and less protected BAE Systems Viking Mk1 machines in theater starting this month.

In an interview last month, Davis, who keeps a scale model of Warthog on the coffee table of his MoD office, admitted the program had suffered delays.

The first Warthogs were handed over to the British on time last year from the Singapore factory of ST Kinetics, but the vehicle failed to pass British acceptance tests. The first unit slated to get the Warthog, a Royal Dragoon Guards regiment, is deploying to Afghanistan without it.

In response to a March 11 question in Parliament, Davis said no Warthogs had been delivered to the land forces by that date. He said delivery was to be wrapped up by autumn.

An MoD spokesman said the Dragoon Guards had trained on the vehicles and they were on "track for delivery in the summer" where they would be on the front lines.

Other sources said the vehicles could be up to six months behind schedule.

A spokeswoman for Thales UK, which has a 20 million pound vehicle integration contract with ST Kinetics, said that training vehicles have been handed over to the British military.

"So far, we have delivered the required number of training vehicles to the MoD and continue to work on the Warthog at our west Wales site," she said.

Industry and MoD sources said 2 tons of armor have been added to the 19-ton vehicle to counter improvised explosive devices in Helmand province. That resolved the issue of blast protection but has created knock-on problems with reliability, and wear and tear on components.

The MoD spokesman said the vehicles were "undergoing extensive reliability trials along with integration activities."

The Warthogs have been undergoing trials at the armed forces Armored Trials and Development Unit at Bovington in Dorset for several months.

The Singaporean company wouldn't comment on why the Warthog program was behind schedule, but in a statement, Patrick Choy, executive vice president-international marketing, acknowledged the vehicle would not enter service until later this year.

"ST Kinetics is working closely with the MoD and Thales UK to make Warthog the most advanced all-terrain vehicle of its class. We are pleased to know that the British soldiers in Afghanistan will soon receive improved protection against mines and increased mobility for all operations when Warthog enters service later in the year," Choy said.

Warthog is the first armored vehicle Britain has purchased from an Asian company.

Brown has mentioned the platform more than once in response to criticism from political opponents and others over Britain's record in equipping its forces in Afghanistan.

Last September, Brown announced that Warthog deliveries would be accelerated. The details of that move were never released, but industry executives said they believed the government was looking at compressing the program to get final deliveries earlier than planned rather than speed introduction of the first vehicles.

Warthog is an uprated version of STK's Bronco tracked all-terrain vehicle, which is in service with the Singaporean armed forces.

The deal was part of a 700 million pound package of urgent operational equipment upgrades announced for Afghanistan in 2008 by then-Defence Secretary John Hutton.

The British ordered a version with better armor, longer range, different weapons and other changes.

The British Royal Marines and the Army already operate the Viking Mk1 in Afghanistan. The vehicle has been criticized for its lack of protection. The British ordered 24 of the improved Viking II vehicles that had lost out to Warthog to replace the earlier model. The last of those Mk II vehicles were delivered recently, and MoD sources said about half have been deployed to Afghanistan with the Royal Marines.

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