ROYAL MARINE COMMANDOS UNVEIL THE HIPPO

24 Sep 2001 12:00 AM

The elite Royal Marine Commandos today unveiled a new 50 tonne armoured vehicle which will clear the way for faster and more effective beach assaults - the ''Hippo'' Future Beach Recovery Vehicle.

The Royal Marines - part of the Royal Navy - are a ''go-anywhere'' force with a vital role in meeting the worldwide need for rapidly-deployable, flexible forces identified in the Strategic Defence Review.

Defence Procurement Minister Lord Bach said:

''The Hippo is vital for the success of an amphibious assault across a beach. It can manoeuvre in water up to ten feet deep and can be used to clear crippled vehicles from assault lanes and recover stranded landing craft.

''We hope that these new vehicles will enter service a year ahead of schedule in parallel with the entry into service of the new assault ships HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, from which they will operate.''

The Hippo will replace the ageing Centurion-tank based beach recovery vehicles now used by the Royal Marines, and will bring to an end nearly 60 years of service by the Centurion in Britain''s Armed Forces.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The Hippo FBRV, which carries a crew of three, is based on a modified Leopard 1 main battle tank chassis. It has an 800 bhp engine, and has a traction force of 25 tonnes, enabling it in up to four feet of water to move anything from a Land Rover to a small tracked vehicle such as the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance, or an LCU Mk 10 landing craft, which weighs up to 240 tonnes fully loaded.

2. The existing Centurion Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicle, used by the Royal Marines since 1962, is based on the chassis of the Centurion tank, which first entered service in 1945.

3. The Hippo FBRV is being procured by the Close Armour Integrated Project Team at the Defence Procurement Agency, which is led by Richard Brooks. The vehicle is made by Hagglunds, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alvis plc.