The American automotive giant Ford is trying to return to the defense business in Europe, almost four decades after abandoning that activity in 1990, when it sold its aerospace subsidiary. The company wants to take advantage of the race to replace the British Army's light vehicles to expand sales of its Ranger pickup truck to other NATO countries.
The American manufacturer has entered the race for the British Ministry of Defence's Light Mobility Vehicle (LMV) program, a contract valued at around 2 billion pounds (approximately 2.3 billion euros), intended to replace the current fleets of Land Rover and Pinzgauer vehicles. For this competition, Ford has partnered with the American company General Dynamics Land Systems and the British engineering group Ricardo, with General Dynamics responsible for leading the consortium.
The company's ambition goes beyond the British contract. Ford's president in Europe, Jim Baumbick, told the Financial Times that there is "a great opportunity" for NATO to develop military vehicles with shared components among allies, allowing countries to share components and simplify logistics, maintenance, and crisis response.
Ford also intends to bring its after-sales support network and associated supply chains to the United Kingdom, with the new vehicle's engine being produced at the Dagenham factory, which during World War II manufactured military engines and vehicles. The company continues to work with the US government and is also competing to supply the US Army with new tactical vehicles based on its Super Duty pickups.
