Doc Summary
The British Army’s Future Command and Liaison Vehicle (FCLV) programme selected the Panther (Iveco LMV-based) to replace ageing Ferret, Saxon, FV432 and Land Rover platforms for command and liaison roles.
The Future Command and Liaison Vehicle (FCLV) programme represented a key element of the British Army’s early-2000s efforts to modernise its ageing fleet of light armoured and utility vehicles used for command, control, and battlefield liaison roles.
Emerging from the remnants of earlier cancelled initiatives like the Future Family of Light Armoured Vehicles (FFLAV), the FCLV sought to replace a disparate collection of legacy platforms—including the long-serving Ferret scout car, elements of the FV432 series, Saxon wheeled armoured personnel carriers, and unarmoured Land Rovers—with a single, more capable and protected 4×4 platform.
In 2003, following a competitive process, the Ministry of Defence awarded Alvis Vickers (later part of BAE Systems) a £166 million contract to deliver 401 modified Iveco Light Multirole Vehicle (LMV) variants, known in British service as the Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle.
Future Command and Liaison Vehicle (FCLV) History #
The Future Command and Liaison Vehicle (FCLV) was defined by the National Audit Office as.
The Future Command and Liaison Vehicle (FCLV) will provide protected mobility for Combat, Combat Support and Combat Service Support Forces in the fire direction, reconnaissance, liaison, and low level (platoon) command and radio rebroadcast roles.
FCLV will have significant utility with some elements operating in the direct fire area and thus requiring a higher Surveillance and Target Acquisition (STA) capability than those mainly operating in the indirect fire area.
It will replace the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), Fighting Vehicle 430, Saxon and Land Rover currently used in these roles
Among others, the requirement was to replace Ferret, and some FV432 in the command, and command and liaison roles.
GKN proposed their Simba vehicle.
Alvis went with the Panhard Véhicule Blindé Léger (VBL).
FFLAV closed in the mid-nineties, and the basic requirement split three ways into the Light Armoured Vehicles Strategy, Multi Base Armoured Vehicle split into two (ABSV and MRAV), TRACER, and Future Command and Liaison Vehicle, FCLV.
Initial Gate was approved in August 2000, five years after the closure of FFLAV, with the first entry on the Defence Procurement Agency website, in October 2001.
Roles were to include
Scout
- Manoeuvre Support Battlegroup Close Reconnaissance
- Manoeuvre Support Battlegroup Mortar Fire Controller and Forward Observation Officer
Utility
- Liaison Officers for Armoured, Armoured Recce and Armoured Infantry Units
- Commander’s vehicle for Engineer Troops, Anti-Tank, Mortar and supporting fire platoons
- REME asset co-ordination
- Rebroadcast on BattleGroup nets and Regimental Signal Officers
- Route proving for Close and General Support Engineer units
- Battery Reconnaissance Officer
General characteristics / technical performance requirements were specified as
- Crew. 3 + 2 for short distances
- Endurance. 48 hours
- Mobility. Medium
- Survivability against small arms, artillery fragments, AT mines
- Sensors driver/commander Thermal Imaging (TI) sight. (BGTI)
- Weapons. 7.62mm pintle/0.5″
- Environment. A1-C2 and B3
- Transportability. C130J, rail
- C3IS to carry Bowman, Battle Group Battle Management System
In addition to the basic specification, it is likely that there will be a requirement for a more sophisticated sensor suite for the reconnaissance, Mortar Fire Controller and Forward Observation Officer vehicles. This may include a high performance TI sight, laser range finder and navigation system.
The then assumption was that FCLV would have an In-Service Date (ISD) of 2006.
The total requirement is likely to be for some 500 plus vehicles at a total programme value of £370 million. Key milestones are:
- Approval to enter assessment phase: February 2001
- Complete assessment phase: November 2002
- Award production contract: March 2004
Industry then responded to the requirements.
Five bidders emerged during this initial phase.
Vickers, with the RG-32M
Hunting Engineering, with the Ateliers de Construction Mécanique de l’Atlantique (ACMAT) VRBL ‘Ranger’
Alvis, with the Scarab
Iveco Defence, with their Puma vehicle
NP Aerospace, with a protected Land Rover
In January 2002, a £1.5m risk reduction contract was awarded to Hunting Engineering, Alvis Vehicles and Vickers Defence Systems.
As part of this work, Risk Reduction Studies Trials programme contenders showed off their vehicles.
The FCLVs will be able to operate under fire on the battlefield by night or day in command, reconnaissance and liaison roles – or in support of peacekeeping operations. “Our policy of Smart Acquisition means that we can buy this equipment off the shelf with minimum modifications – so getting versatile vehicles into the hands of frontline units more quickly and at less expense.. “The vehicles are being put through rigorous trials to ensure that our Armed Forces have the very best equipment at their disposal”
Lord Bach
The risk reduction contract resulted in three companies demonstrating five different vehicles.
Alvis still stayed with Scarab, but they also included the Iveco MLV Multi-role Light Vehicle (following an agreement between Alvis Vehicles and Iveco Defence Vehicles), known as the Lince.
Hunting Engineering, by then known as INSYS, stayed with the ACMAT VRBL,
Vickers, showed the RG-32M, and the slightly smaller RG-31M (also known as the Nyala)
Alvis and Vickers subsequently merged (it was a busy time for the defence industry).
In July 2003, Alvis PLC announced they had been selected to deliver FCLV
Alvis plc is pleased to announce that its UK subsidiary, Alvis Vickers, has today been selected as winner of the competition to supply the Future Command and Liaison Vehicle (FCLV) for the British Army.
Subject to final contract negotiations, Alvis Vickers will receive a contract valued at around £200m to supply almost 500 MLV vehicles. MLV is a 4×4 high mobility light armored vehicle providing protection against small arms fire and mines. The MLV is based on the Iveco LMV vehicle which has been developed for a major Italian Army program.
For the FCLV program Alvis Vickers will install UK mission equipment comprising principally a weapon station, armour pack and communication systems. MLV is a complete family of vehicles around 7 tons incorporating the latest automotive technology. It will be used in a wide range of Command and Liaison roles in the British Army, replacing a variety of older vehicles.
The demonstration phase of the program will run until 2005, and series deliveries will take place between 2006 and 2009. This extends the firm UK order book of Alvis Vickers, the principal current element of which is the Engineer Tank System which will be delivered 2005-2007.
MLV is a modular design which can readily be adapted to meet other requirements both in the UK and for export. Alvis Vickers has signed an agreement with Iveco which provides substantial rights in the export market. The prospects for additional sales of MLV beyond the core FCLV program are therefore good.
The UK MOD also announced today that it would not be continuing with the Multi-Role Armoured Vehicle (MRAV) program into a production phase as the vehicle is no longer considered suited to the changing requirements of the British Army.
The UK will negotiate withdrawal from the program at the earliest opportunity. Any longer term role for Alvis in MRAV will depend on the plans of the German and Dutch partners. In any event it would be a small role in comparison to the work which would have been involved in building vehicles for the UK.
Whilst the UK decision not to implement production of MRAV is a disappointment, Alvis needs to be flexible in the face of customer requirements changing in response to evolving threats.
The UK MOD is in the process of launching a project for a new family of light/medium armored vehicles known as the Future Rapid Effects System (FRES), which will absorb some of the roles previously foreseen for MRAV. Alvis Vickers is well placed to play a leading role in this project, and success in this, together with work on FCLV, will provide a strong medium and long-term UK workload for Alvis Vickers.
Moreover, both the FCLV vehicle and the FRES concept are perceived to be well attuned to the long-term requirements of the export market.
Nick Prest, Chairman and Chief Executive of Alvis plc, commented:
Winning FCLV is a demonstration of Alvis competitiveness and flexibility. It provides good long-term business for Alvis Vickers. Whilst the MOD’s decision not to take MRAV into a production phase is disappointing, Alvis’s prospects in the UK market remain very promising.
Further information was announced in November 2003, specifically, the contract award.
Baroness Gould of Potternewton
Asked Her Majesty’s Government What progress has been made in awarding the contract for the Future Command and Liaison Vehicle.
Lord Bach
We are pleased to announce that the Ministry of Defence has today signed a contract worth £166 million (including VAT) with Alvis Vickers Ltd, for the manufacture of the Future Command and Liaison Vehicle (FCLV). On 17 July we announced that the FCLV would be deployed with the RAF Regiment and that the contract value would be worth over £200 million.
Ongoing work on armoured fighting vehicle rationalisation has led to a review of the initial requirement for vehicles. Consequently, we have revised the size of the initial procurement of FVLV whilst retaining the option to procure additional FCLV at a later date. The RAF Regiment will no longer receive vehicles from the initial fleet of FCLV and the contract value of the initial work has been revised.
The FCLV will perform the command and liaison role and replace the ageing and disparate vehicle fleet within the manoeuvre support brigades comprising elements of the 430 Series, Saxon, Land Rover and Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) fleets. From its planned in-service date of 2006, the FCLV will provide levels of crew protection and mobility commensurate with their roles in an increasingly extended ground manoeuvre area. It will offer protection against small arms, blast and antipersonnel mines.
Those in the direct fire zone will contain a self-defence weapon (SDW) that can be operated under armour to provide suppressive fire and surveillance and target acquisition (STA) system will be provided to enhance situational awareness, reconnaissance, targeting and reporting.
The vehicle has been selected to deliver the solution to the Armed Forces’ requirement for enhanced speed, reliability, flexibility and protection for a wide range of users in combat or peacekeeping operations.
The award of this contract to Alvis Vickers Ltd is excellent news for both our Armed Forces and the defence industry. It will sustain approximately 35 highly skilled jobs at the Alvis Vickers Ltd facility at Telford, and a further 25 within other UK companies.
This is the culmination of work conducted by both the MoD and industry, and is a good example of the principles of Smart Acquisition being put into practice. It is incumbent on the MoD and industry to work together to ensure that our Armed Forces have access to the right equipment, in the right quantities, at the right time and at the right price.
The contract was for 401 vehicles in two versions, 326 Group 2 with a self-defence weapon and target acquisition and surveillance system and 75 fitted for but not with.
The remote weapon system was to be an AEI Ordnance Enforcer.
The planned In service date was 2007, although it would not enter service until 2008, the delays resulting in issues discovered during trials.
In 2006, the controversy surrounding the Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle (CLV) deepened as it became clear that the Iveco vehicle had been pushed by the MoD at a late stage, despite not being initially entered by any of the bidders
There was also continued confusion about the amount of locally manufactured content. It was originally claimed that the vehicles would be manufactured in the UK, but this proved to be not the case, as only modifications to the base vehicle were completed in the UK.
Although the £166 million contract did include some logistic support elements, it was being unfavourably compared to a Swedish purchase of the RG-32M vehicle from BAE Land Systems OMC.
Using published costs from the Swedish ministry of defence, the equivalent contract value would have been less than £75 million for a vehicle that many argued had much better protection against mines and IED’s.
RG-31 was a proven vehicle, the RG-32 simply an evolution of it.
In the same year, given the general unsuitability of the Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle for operations in Iraq, some Bulldogs were fitted with Remote Weapon Stations, taken from the Panther programme.
Iveco showed off a couple of concepts for a long wheelbase and 6×6 variant of the LMV.
Panther eneterd service in 2008, as the Panther Command and Liaision Vehicle (CLV)
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