A group of companies are working on developing a hybrid version of the Foxhound, Jackal and MAN SV vehicles for the UK Army. The prototypes of these models were exhibited during the first day of DSEI, which is currently underway in London. The designer of the vehicle, Jacobs, was at the show to discuss the work being undertaken to progress the vehicles to the next stage of development.

Madeline Wild, Associate Defense Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view on the hybrid technology:

“Hybrid technology is the first step in the journey towards the integration of fully electric vehicles into the Armed Forces fleets. The efforts from Jacobs, amongst the other participants in the projects (Millbrook, MAGTEC, RBSL, NP Aerospace, GDELS UK, Supacat and DSTL), account for the UK’s ambitions to develop hybrid armored vehicles. The project aims to produce vehicles capable of special forces operations. In its current form the Foxhound is capable of 30km using the battery alone. The vehicles exhibited at DSEI are nearing the end of the first stage of development with an expected move to the second stage (manufacturing) imminently.

“The US Army are heavily investing in electric combat vehicles, the majority of which will use hybrid powertrains and technology to drive the vehicles. The use of hybridity versus fully electric power will enable faster integration of combat electric vehicles into fleets. This is because hybridity does not face the same challenges as fully electric vehicles – primarily being the lack of issues relating to charging in the field.

“Any future successful integration of the three hybrid vehicle models exhibited at the DSEI would be a significant step forward in more sustainable methods of fueling the Armed Forces.”