UK Ministry of Defence,
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has selected the vehicles that will participate in trials for the utility variant of the Army's Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) later this summer. The selected designs are BOXER (ARTEC), Piranha (GD UK) and VBCI (Nexter). The outcome of the trials will be announced by the end of November when one or more utility vehicle design will go forward for detailed assessment.
The FRES family of vehicles is vital for the Army of the future. They will have high levels of protection and will also be air-transportable, allowing troops to deploy rapidly across the globe at short notice.
Defence Minister Lord Drayson said:
“My highest priority is to ensure that our Forces have the equipment they need to achieve success on operations today, tomorrow and in the future. FRES has a vital part to play in the future of the British Army. I signalled my commitment to the FRES programme last year and this announcement provides tangible evidence of progress. The selection of these designs for inclusion in the utility vehicle trials is a part of the competitive acquisition strategy developed to ensure that we deliver the best solution for the Army.”
General Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff, said:
“FRES is my highest equipment priority and I am determined that we will make this programme a timely success – it is at the heart of the future Army. I am therefore very encouraged by the significant progress that has been made in identifying the three best candidate vehicles for us to trial this summer and I look forward to maintaining this momentum in the programme to the next decision point by November this year. We need to take this exciting project forward, together with our industrial partners as soon as possible.”
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British Army's utility variant of the Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) later this summer.
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In addition to the utility vehicle design competition, the Ministry of Defence is also running competitions to select a company which will work with the designer to integrate key systems onto the vehicles, and a company that will have strategic oversight of the entire FRES programme and its links to the existing fleet, known as the system of systems integrator. In a clear sign of the MoD's commitment to drive the FRES programme forward, contracts for this work will be awarded within 12 months.
The FRES programme will equip the Army with a range of new vehicle types over and above the utility variant. This includes reconnaissance, direct fire, and engineer support vehicles. These will also be open to competition from industry.
Background Information
1. The FRES programme will equip the UK Armed Forces with new medium weight armoured vehicles.
2. The Army's FRES requirement continues to be informed by operational experience, where the threats to our forces are constantly evolving. This operational experience means that FRES specifications will be matched as closely as possible to the needs of our troops both today and in the future.
3. This down-select is based on the assessment of Pre-Qualification Questionnaires which have been submitted by each bidder. The evaluation was conducted by technical experts with strong Army involvement.
4. The utility vehicle (UV) design is the first of a number of competitions that will be conducted to deliver the FRES family of vehicles, with the next significant step being the selection of a UV Integrator and overall system of systems integrator (SOSI) later this year. Further work will select the design for other variants for roles such as reconnaissance and direct fire. A company's success, or otherwise, in the UV design stage will not affect their chances of success as bidders for other integrator or design work.
