Military star for more than half a century across the globe

Land Rover Defender vehicles have been used by many of the world’s military forces.

They were used by US forces in Iraq during the first Gulf war when the Americans found them better suited to operations in urban areas and for air-lifting than the Humvee.

The British Army has used Land Rovers since the 1950s, as have many countries in the Commonwealth.

The British Army replaced its Series III fleet with One Tens in 1985, with a smaller fleet of Nineties following in 1986.

Both used the 2.5 litre naturally aspirated diesel engine. These older vehicles are reaching the end of their service lives, with many being sold on to the civilian market from the late 1990s.

The British Army’s Land Rovers have been the subject of criticism following recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The majority of British Land Rovers carry no armour-plating and the composite armoured “Snatch” Land Rover (originally designed to withstand small-arms fire and hand-launched projectiles as experienced in Northern Ireland) is not immune to the larger roadside bomb and rocket attacks. Some have called for British troops to be equipped with Humvees, or other such vehicles.