Supacat said it will enter into a partnership agreement with KNDS Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG (KNDS) to make a range of light and medium protected vehicles which could bring hundreds of jobs to Devon and the Southwest where Supacat is based. The potential multi-million-pound order book could run into many hundreds if not thousands of military vehicles to be made in the UK.
Under the agreement, which is a collaboration on the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) Land Mobility Programme (LMP), the two companies will work together to offer solutions in the light and medium/heavy protected mobility categories, centred on the proven Dingo 3 platform and Armoured Command and Liaison Vehicle (ACLV) variants. The collaboration will focus specifically on delivering a family of vehicles to meet the MoD’s future requirements for Troop Carrying Vehicle (TCV), Ambulance, and Command roles.
This partnership brings together KNDS’s extensive experience as a Tier 1 prime contractor, including its current delivery of the Boxer vehicle from its UK facility in Stockport, with Supacat’s agility, innovation, and local manufacturing expertise. The combination of KNDS’s technical pedigree and Supacat’s engineering excellence provides the MoD with a robust and flexible industrial team, capable of rapid adaptation to evolving operational demands.
As part of the MoU, Supacat will lead UK-based manufacturing, design adaptation, and integrated support solutions from its new state-of-the-art production facility in Devon. This approach ensures that vehicle production, integration, and through-life support are conducted within the UK, delivering significant economic and industrial benefits. The collaboration also provides the opportunity for the world class HMT platform, the preferred Special Forces vehicle around the world, to be presented, through a leading European Union Defence partner to the European Union countries as part of a collaborative purchase.
The partnership directly aligns with the UK Government’s Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) by strengthening sovereign manufacturing capability, supporting high-value engineering jobs, and developing export opportunities from a UK base. Vehicles produced under this collaboration will be manufactured in Devon, with potential for international sales through the KNDS global network. The combination of UK and European collaboration also fits neatly into the UK MOD’s Land Mobility Programme, a major strategic initiative to modernise, digitise and rationalise the British Army’s land vehicle fleet, which will replace a large number of legacy vehicle types (utility, light mobility and protected mobility) with fewer, common platform families – such as Supacat’s world-beating HMT Jackal Series – that are more adaptable, maintainable and cost-effective. LMP serves the wider defence objective of improving operational readiness, global deployability, and fleet sustainability over the full lifecycle of the platforms.
KNDS brings to the partnership its extensive experience developing and supporting combat-proven armoured vehicles, such as the Dingo family, which has seen operational service with 10 NATO and allied nations. Supacat, known for its highly mobile HMT series vehicles in service with UK and international armed forces, adds deep understanding of British defence requirements and a track record of delivering bespoke vehicle solutions.
Commenting on the MOU partnership, Nick Ames, chief executive of parent SC Group said “This promises to be a transformational opportunity on a number of levels, not least for Supacat which has been at the fore of UK innovation in defence vehicle design and manufacture, but for the South West region which is steeped in rich military expertise and knowhow. The opportunity for jobs, pan-European collaboration and shared economic development are enormous.”
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