History

RMMV (then MAN) confirmed it was developing the HX range at Defence Vehicles Dynamics (DVD) 2003 and a developmental example shown later in the year at DSEi 2003. The earlier LX range was superseded by the HX range in 2004. The FX range was superseded in 2005. The first order for the HX range came from the British Army, which announced in October 2004 that it had selected the MAN ERF UK Ltd proposal to meet the Support Vehicle requirement. The contract was awarded in March 2005.

At Eurosatory 2012 RMMV displayed publicly for the first time an example of the HX2 range. For clarity, RMMV is a 49%/51% joint venture established in January 2010 between MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG (now MAN Truck & Bus) and Rheinmetall AG. It was announced in October 2004 that the UK Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) had selected the MAN ERF UK Ltd proposal for the UK armed forces' Support Vehicle requirement; a contract award followed in March 2005. The base contract award covered 5,165 vehicles and 69 recovery trailers with the first vehicles entering service in June 2007. Total Support Vehicle contract deliveries to the UK Ministry of Defence totalled 7,415 69 trailers (7,484), this figure including a contract option, plus some delivery revisions and additional orders. The Support Vehicle contract called for two model ranges to be delivered to the MoD, SX and HX, with a >90% quantity bias towards HX models.

Contents

The Modern Trucks in the British Army.
Support Vehicles Variants Overview.
Prototypes.
Production.
Support Vehicle Cargo Light (SVCL) 6 Tonne 4x4.
Support Vehicle Cargo Light 6 Tonne 4x4 Euro 4 Man in Detail.
Support Vehicle Cargo Medium (SVCM) 9 Tonne 6x6 Medium Mobility (MM) Man.
Support Vehicle Cargo Medium (SVCM) 9 Tonne 6x6 Improved Medium Mobility (IMM) Man.
Support vehicle cargo heavy (SVCH) 15 tonne 8x8 Man .
Support Vehicle Unit Support Tanker (UST) 6x6 Medium Mobility (MM) Man.
Support vehicle unit support tanker (UST) 6x6 improved medium mobility (IMM) Man.
Support vehicle Land Environment Air Picture Provision (LEAPP) 15 Tonne 8x8 Man.
Support Vehicle (Recovery) 8x8 Man.
Support Vehicle (Recovery) Trailer. (Andover Trailers DBT30)
Modular Armour kit.
Project Barricade.
Project Fortress.
Rapidly Emplaced Bridge System.

Review

Tankograd don't need any real introduction as at some stage I am sure you have seen some of their great books, this book is for anyone that is into soft skins or British Army Trucks. The book starts off with an introduction and quickly follows with the issue for the requirement for some new trucks, this is text heavy over the first 12 pages. In the 1990's the British Army's transport vehicle fleet consisted of trucks with the payloads of 4, 8 and 14 tonnes. With it becoming ever increasingly difficult to be able to find spare parts for the ageing British Army fleet, due to most of the companies no longer existing, it became imperative for a new truck to be sourced.

Many different projects were entered into for suitable vehicles to enter service, so lots of different companies all put tenders in for the 1.1 billion pound order which eventually went to MAN Truck and Bus UK Limited for an impressive 5,165 vehicles and 69 trailers.

Trials of the first batch of prototypes for the SV family started on the 30th October 2006, and was conducted at different locations throughout the UK. Officially delivered on the 30th June 2007 the first batch of 161 series production vehicles was handed over to the MoD. The various different trucks that the Man Company have produced for the British Army, Royal Marines, RAF, and RN have a 20 year service package that is designed to start after the last vehicle is delivered, should see these trucks being the backbone of the British Armed services till at least 2034.

Three data pages follow on to the next chapter, which is the start of the picture heavy part of the book that Tankograd have made their own style in the years that they have been running these type of books. The first of the picture heavy part of the book is four pages on the prototypes and the production with a series of great pictures showing the prototype and also some building going on, on the production line.

The (SVCL) 6 tonne 4x4 MAN is given an impressive amount of pictures with different versions, these include an impressive array of different uses from cargo carrying to a great looking fire engine. There is plenty to see, and with such great hi quality photos is bound to help the die hard builder with any accuracy issues. This follows on with the detail section which is more like a walk around with great close up pictures.

The (SVCM) 9 tonne 6x6 MAN medium mobility with the improved weight carrying ability larger vehicle making it easy logistically to move more equipment, again a superb range of pictures to help with any modelling section. The improved medium mobility 9 tonne 6x6 (IMM) improved mobility truck with a great picture of 3 commando being landed on a beach by a Royal Marine LCU Mk 10 got me thinking.

The (SVCH) 15 tonne 8x8 MAN the largest of the MAN trucks delivered and capable of delivering the Bv 206 all-terrain vehicle in a cold response exercise in 2014. The series of hi quality pictures and close up pictures follow on with this section. The following pages show the Man truck in different formats from tankers to the Land Environment Air Picture Provision, the MoD transport for the container-based Giraffe Agile Multi-Beam (G-AMB) Surveillance radar system, the primary sensor unit of the (LEAPP).

The 8x8 Man (Recovery) Truck looks pretty much a beast of a machine with an incredible recovery lift and towing capability Tankograd have not disappointed with this series of photos. Couple this with the Andover Trailers DBT30 makes you realise just why they have gone with the MAN trucks.

The Modular Armour Kit bringing it up to a higher level of protection in a war zone being able to operate in the middle of a battle zone. This moves on to the Project fortress which is slat armour to the MAN cab and looks the part for moving around Afghanistan. There is an incredible amount of pictures in this section that will give you plenty of diorama ideas and added accuracy to any build of a MAN truck. The last section of the book is for the Rapidly Emplaced Bridge System another incredible bit of kit.

Conclusion

If you are interested in soft skins especially trucks then this book is a well written picture heavy book that is going to give you a lot of information some fantastic ideas for dioramas and superb accuracy shots of MAN trucks. I only wished some of the companies would do more on soft skins I know Revell have produced a few of these trucks in the past but as far as I am aware they are no longer available which is a real shame as it is such an interesting subject.