MORE than 100 new heavily armoured patrol vehicles have been ordered by the government to protect British troops in Iraq against roadside bombs.

The move follows a review ordered by Des Browne, the defence secretary, after the father of a soldier killed in a Snatch Land Rover accused the government of allowing soldiers to die needlessly to save cash.

Roger Bacon, whose son was killed by a roadside bomb last September, spoke out after the 18th death of a soldier in a Snatch Land Rover. He welcomed the new move.

The latest vehicles will be upgraded versions of the armoured Cougars used by US marines in Iraq. They will have additional armour, making them the most protected vehicles of their kind in the world.

Browne, a former chief secretary to the Treasury, asked his former boss Gordon Brown to provide the tens of millions of pounds to rush new vehicles to Iraq, a senior defence source said yesterday.

Snatch Land Rovers cost about 50,000 British pounds apiece. The new vehicles cost about eight times as much but carry more troops.

Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials were ordered to bypass their complex procurement system and buy the best vehicle available. The Cougar, built in America by BAE Systems, came closest to fulfilling the requirement, but despite surviving a number of bomb attacks in Iraq it was still deemed to have insufficient armour. The MoD aims to have the Cougars in Iraq by the end of the year.

The US marines initially used them as the lead vehicles in their convoys but found them so effective against roadside bombs that they replaced all their Humvee vehicles with Cougars.

Sergyi Way
26.07.2006

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