Morgan Advanced MaterialsRicardo, and Ultra Electronics, all U.K. based and owned companies, have partnered to bid for the continued support and upgrade of the Ministry of Defense’s (MoD) Mastiff, Ridgback and Wolfhound fleet of Protected Patrol Vehicles (PPV).

Morgan will lead the group and is bidding as prime contractor.

The Mastiff and Ridgeback vehicles were manufactured by General Dynamics’ [GD] Force Protection. Wolfhound was built by Integrated Survivability Technologies (IST), a joint venture between Force Protection and NP Aerospace. 

The three companies have their technology development in the United Kingdom and in a statement released on Dec. 2 said their combined expertise, experience and history of innovation would provide an outstanding option to support and enhance the unique capabilities of the Mastiff family of vehicles for the foreseeable future. 

“Ricardo is extremely pleased to be joining forces with Morgan and Ultra in what represents a highly effective and all-British partnership, drawing together world-class engineering capabilities and extensive experience in military vehicle design, development, manufacture and overhaul,” said Ricardo U.K. Managing Director Martin Fausset. 

Morgan Advanced Materials’ Composites and Defense Systems business, formerly NP Aerospace, has world-leading expertise in specialized armor technologies. It designed, developed and integrated U.K.-specific, specialized armor protection and electronic systems into the entire Mastiff family of vehicles from base platforms purchased from the United States.  Morgan also implemented and operated the spares support processes, including configuration management, stocking and supply chain management, which kept the fleets running during combat operations. 

Ricardo is known for its automotive engineering expertise and was responsible for the initial design, development and engineering of the Foxhound vehicles, manufacturing all 376 units ordered to date. Ricardo was prime contractor on the Vixen and RWMIK+ upgrade programs and has also undertaken a project for the Defense Science & Technology Laboratory to identify improvements to the fuel efficiency of Mastiff vehicles. 

Ultra Electronics is an international pioneer in vehicle information and power systems and has worked extensively on behalf of customers including the MoD, U.S. Defense Department and leading Tier 1 suppliers into the defense sector. Ultra is currently under contract to provide multiple electronic systems for the Warrior Capability Sustainment Program and Scout SV development. It is the only Tier 2 supplier involved in all aspects of Generic Vehicle Systems Architecture (GVSA), Generic Soldier Architecture (GSA) and Generic Base Architecture (GBA). 

The three businesses are complementary in their technological capabilities, maintain critical competencies in-house and have the financial backing of substantial parent companies. This has enabled them to demonstrate remarkable agility and innovation in meeting demanding requirements for protecting U.K. soldiers over the last decade. This collaboration creates an agile partnership that maintains that capability in the United Kingdom and offers the possibility of optimizing electronic and power system synergies among vehicle, future soldier and base systems. 

MoD is expected to soon award contracts for Post Design Service, Coherence and future upgrade work.