Day of the Jackal

摘要

The face of Army patrols in Afghanistan has changed over the course of this year. Where previously soldiers had set out in armour-plated, weapons-bristling Land Rovers, since June they have had access to a very different vehicle. Dubbed the Jackal by the MoD, the patrol vehicle brings a fresh set of capabilities to the arduous conditions of Afghanistan. The Jackal is a type of vehicle known in Army parlance as a Mobility Weapon-Mounted Installation Kit or MWMIK. In essence, it is a mobile weapons platform; a four-wheel-drive, all-terrain truck, armed with machine guns and grenade launchers. Developed by Devon-based all-terrain vehicle specialist Supacat, it has a greater range than the Land Rover and can carry more of a payload. 'The Land Rover WMIK has the same ethos as the Jackal in terms of the upper, fighting area, with the mounting ring for a heavy machine gun and other gun emplacements,' said Sean Limbrick, Supacat's chief engineer. 'But the problem with the Land Rover was that they couldn't add armour, because it had no load capability, and they couldn't carry the extra payload that would be needed for longer-range patrols, in terms of water and fuel. So the MoD was looking around for a long-range vehicle that could carry more.' The solution, in terms of the Jackal, was a Supacat vehicle that had also been developed to fill a gap in capabilities. Nick Ames, Supacat managing director, said: 'We have an older vehicle, which we now just know as the Supacat, but the military call it the ATMP or all-terrain mobile platform.'