Snatch Land Rover

Land Rover Snatch
Land Rover Snatch conversion used by British Army on Operation Telic, Iraq
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Specifications
Mass	3,050 kg
Length	4.55 m
Width	1.79 m
Height	2.03 m
Main armament	none - personal weapons carried by "top cover"
Engine	Land Rover 300 Tdi engine 111 hp (83 kW)
Power/weight	hp/tonne
Suspension	Wheel 4×4
Operational range	510 km
Maximum speed	160 km/h

The Snatch Land Rover is a protected patrol vehicle intended for general patrolling in low-threat areas. Based on the Land Rover Heavy Duty Chassis, a militarised version of the Defender 110 (similar to the Land Rover Wolf), it was orginally procured for use in Northern Ireland by the British Army.. The vehicle was first introduced in 1992.

Overview

Officially designated, Truck Utility Medium (TUM) with Vehicle Protection Kit (VPK), the vehicle is also known by its informal title, the "Snatch", even in official documentation. It is believed to have acquired this name from its use in the Troubles, when it was the preferred vehicle for "snatch squads" used in raids to capture suspects.

The "Snatch" was the first factory modified Land Rover to be used in Northern Ireland, replacing a series of ad hoc conversions including a protected Airportable Land Rover (Land Rover 1/2 ton Lightweight), known as the "piglet", being a smaller version of the Humber "Pig" APC then widely used by British Forces in Northern Ireland .

Manufactured as the CAMAC CAV 100 by NP Aerospace, the "Snatch" conversion was developed with the aid of Ricardo, and is fitted with CAMAC composite armour to offer the crew protection against kinetic energy projectiles and, to a very limited degree, against explosive devices. Its rated "combat weight" (without crew and weapons) is 3,050 kg .

Five versions have been produced, the first being the original Snatch-1, equipped with a V8 petrol engine. Nearly 1000 were produced, with 278 being "desertised" and reclassified as the Snatch-1.5. Many are now being (or have been) upgraded to current variant standard, either the Snatch-2 12v, LHD, the basic training variant; the Snatch-2A 24v, RHD, "Rest of World variant"; or the Snatch-2B 24v, RHD - the N. Ireland variant. These later versions have been retro-fitted with diesel engines and the 2A is also fitted with air conditioning.

When deployed, the vehicles are often fitted with electronic counter-measures (ECM) suites, which are designed to prevent certain types of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) being triggered, and Bowman radios.

Now used in Afghanistan and Iraq, they were first deployed to Iraq in September 2003. Then, 178 vehicles (Snatch-1) drawn from reserve stock or surplus to requirement in Northern Ireland were shipped from Belfast docks aboard the chartered roll-on roll-off ship Dart 10, arriving at Umm Qasar on 4 October.

Background to the Iraqi deployment

With the official termination of hostilities in Iraq on 1 May 2003, there was a brief honeymoon for British forces occupying southern Iraq. The predominantly Shia population did not show they same degree of antagonism to the occupying forces as did the deposed Sunni, further north and, for a period, troops were able to patrol in soft hats, without armour.

A presentiment of trouble came when six military policemen were killed by a mob in Majar al-Kabir, north of Basra, on 24 June 2004. On 28 July 2003 , three or four loud explosions were heard from the centre of the city, followed by rounds of gunfire. Some buildings suffered heavy damage and there were civilian casualties.

In mid-August, Basra had been swept by organised riots, with mobs protesting against the lack of fuel and electricity in the city – when British forces were shot at and returned fire, killing at least one Iraqi.

Then on 14 August, a military ambulance was travelling from Basra, conveying a soldier to the military hospital in the Shaibah logistics base outside the city. Shortly after 9am British time, the vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb, killing Captain David Jones, injuring the other two soldiers, and badly damaging the vehicle. One national newspaper at the time reported that this had been the most serious attack on British forces since the attack on the MPs.. Furthermore, as this was the very first roadside bomb attack on a British military vehicle, the fear was that the "honeymoon" with the Shia was over. British troops in were now to be targeted by guerrilla attacks.

As reported by The Scotsman, the BBC had defence analyst Paul Beaver saying that the attack had been very different to any incident dealt with by British forces in Iraq before then. "This looks like a step up in operations by a group you can only call terrorists," he told BBC News (online link defunct). "This is very much a pre-meditated act of terrorism. There's no doubt at all what we're actually seeing here is someone making capital out of the fact there is now a greater awareness of discontent in the Basra area." The newspaper suggested that the campaign in Iraq had "entered a dangerous new phase".

Quickly following that, there was an incident on 23 August when three soldiers from the Royal Military Police - Major Matthew Titchener, Co Sergeant Major Colin Wall and Corporal Dewi Pritchard - were killed in an ambush in central Basra. Witnesses said the RMPs had been riding in a sports utility vehicle in a routine two-vehicle convoy and came under small-arms fire from an unknown number of men in a pick-up truck at around 8.30am. The soldiers returned fire, but appear to have been killed either by a grenade thrown from the other vehicle or when their own vehicle crashed into a wall.

Then, on 27 August, Fusilier Russell Beeston, a Territorial Army soldier in the 52nd Lowland Regiment, was killed on after a crowd surrounded his patrol vehicle in Ali As Sharqi, southern Iraq, and opened fire with guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Friday 29 August 29 saw a bomb attack on a British base in central Basra and, shortly afterwards, on 7 September, a roadside bomb in Basra exploded when a British diplomatic convoy was passing killing four people of unknown nationalities, wrecking the car and flipping it upside down. When a later explosion killed ten more, there can have been no doubt. The "honeymoon" was definitely over and an insurgency was in progress.

Within weeks, "Snatch" Land Rovers were being loaded onto a ship in Belfast docks. However, they were to arrive in an environment where the bomb was already proving to be the insurgent's weapon of choice, against which the vehicle was ill-equipped.

Casualties

Since its introduction, in both Iraq and Afghanistan, there have been 38 known (or suspected) deaths arising from attacks on these vehicles, the latest including Cpl Sarah Bryant and three others on 17 June 2008 near Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province in Afghanistan.

The first casualty was Fusilier Gordon Gentle, serving with 1st Battalion Royal Highland Fusiliers. He was killed by an IED on 28 June 2004 in Basra. Private Lee Martin O'Callaghan, 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment was the next, on 9 August 2004, also in Basra. He was followed by Cpl Marc Taylor and Gunner David Lawrence, serving with 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery. Their vehicle was attacked on the outskirts of Basra on 28 September 2004.

After what appeared to have been a lull in the spate of attacks, the focus seems to have moved to al Amarah, where Guardsman Anthony James Wakefield of the 1st Battalion The Coldstream Guards was killed on 2 May 2005. On 29 May, another "Snatch" was attacked, again in al Amarah, this time killing L/Cpl Alan Brackenbury of The King's Royal Hussars. This marked the first known use of the Explosively Formed Penetrator (EFP) device against British troops.

On 16 July 2005, there then followed another attack in al Amarah, in which an EFP was also used, killing Private Phillip Hewett, Private Leon Spicer and 2nd Lt Richard Shearer, all of the 1st Battalion Staffordshire Regiment.

Fusiliers Stephen Robert Manning and Donal Anthony Meade were the next casualties, killed on 5 September 2005, near as Zubayr in Basra Province. They died as a result of wounds while acting as top cover sentries when what appears to have been an improvised explosive device detonated.

These deaths were followed by the highly controversial death of Major Matthew Bacon, Intelligence Corps. He was riding in a "Snatch" as a passenger, en route to Basra Airport, after the helicopter due to convey him had become unserviceable. The vehicle was also hit by an EFP, killing Major Bacon instantly.

Sergeant John Jones of the 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was the next soldier killed, on 20 November 2005, in Basra, victim to what appears to have been another EFP. He was commander of the vehicle. The was incident is recalled by a badly injured survivor in a newspaper article.

On 31 January, another "Snatch", on patrol in the port area of Umm Qasr, near Basra, was struck by a bomb, killing Corporal Gordon Pritchard.

On 28 February 2006, Captain Richard John Holmes and Private Lee Ellis, both from the 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, were killed by an IED as they conducted a routine patrol in al Amarah.

On 15 April, Lieutenant Richard Palmer, of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, was killed on a joint patrol with the Iraqi Army as the vehicle that he was commanding was the target of a roadside bomb.

Following this incident, "Snatch" movements were highly restricted and a regime adopted whereby the vehicles would be escorted by Warrior MICVs, reducing the opportunities for attack. But, nevertheless, the bombers returned, killing on 13 May 2006, Privates Joseva Lewaicei and Adam Morris, of the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment. They were killed in the same vehicle in Basra, while on a routine patrol.

At the end of the month - 28 May - Lieutenant Tom Mildinhall from 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards (The Welsh Cavalry) and his Lance Corporal, Paul Farrelly, both succumbed in a single incident. They were patrolling the al Jezaizah district of North West Basra in support of the Iraqi Security Forces. The IED was believed to have been an EFP.

The first "Snatch" casualties in Afghanistan were an officer from the newly-formed Special Reconnaissance Regiment, Captain David Patten, and Sergeant Paul Bartlett, Royal Marines SBS, were then killed near Sangin, in Helmand Province. On 27 June 2006, they were returning from a "planned detention operation" when insurgents hit their vehicle with an RPG. The soldiers were forced to leave the vehicle and died in an ensuing gun battle.

On 4 September 2006, Gunner Wright from 58 (Eyre's) Battery, 12 Regiment Royal Artillery and Gunner Samuela Vanua were killed near the town of Ad Dayr, north of Basra City. An explosion hit their patrol as it was returning to their base following a routine task training the Iraqi Police.

The very next day saw another "Snatch" casualty in Afghanistan. Private Craig O'Donnell's vehicle, in which he was riding top cover in Kabul, was rammed by a Toyata Hilux driven by a suicide bomber. The resultant explosion overturned the "Snatch" and killed Private O'Donnell outright.

This had not been the first suicide bomb victim in Afghanistan. In very similar circumstances, on 28 January 2004, Private Jonathan Kitulagoda, while riding a Land Rover Wolf, had been killed by a suicide bomber driving a taxi, again in Kabul.

The next death was also in Afghanistan, and another suicide bomber victim. Marine Gary Wright, of 45 Commando Royal Marines, was riding top cover in a "Snatch" on 19 October 2006, leaving the police station in Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province. Waiting for the vehicle was a lone suicide bomber, on foot, who detonated his device killing Marine Wright and setting the vehicle on fire. Two children were also killed in the blast.

Counted in the number of "Snatch" casualties is the death of Lance Bombardier James Dwyer, of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, killed on 27 December 2006 in southern Helmand Province, when the Land Rover he was driving struck a mine. Various reports give the crew as four - the normal complement for a Snatch - although another report describes the vehicle as a WMIK (see Land Rover Wolf).

Another definite "Snatch" casualty, however, was Private Luke Simpson of The Yorkshire Regiment, 1st Battalion. He was killed south of the city of Basra on 9 February 2007, when his vehicle was hit by an IED. Three others were injured.

The next known casualty was Guardsman Neil "Tony" Downes from the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, killed by an explosion while on patrol in the town of Sangin, Helmand Province, with the Afghan National Army. Four others were injured.

On 24 June 2007, Drummer Thomas Wright, from 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment, was killed when his vehicle was hit by an explosive device. It was escorting a military team surveying the site for a new road project linking several Afghan villages in the Babaji area, roughly six kilometres outside Lashkar Gah.

Sergeant Dave Wilkinson, from 19 Regiment Royal Artillery, was then killed on 1 July 2007 in what is believed to have been a "Snatch". He lost his life when an improvised explosive device exploded next to his vehicle during a routine joint patrol with the Afghan National Army.

On 9 August 2007, Lance Sergeant Chris Casey and Lance Corporal Kirk Redpath, both of the 1st Batallion Irish Guards, were killed at the north of the Rumaylah oilfields, west of Basra City, when an IED detonated next to their vehicle.

The most serious single "Snatch" incident to date killed Cpl Sarah Bryant, Army Intelligence Corps, Cpl Sean Robert Lewis, Army Intelligence Corp, Trooper Paul Stout and L/Cpl Richard Larkin, all of 23 Regiment SAS. The vehicle was travelling outside Lashkar Gah in convoy with three others and reportedly hit by two stacked anti-tank mines, killing the four occupants of the vehicle. There was one survivor.

The controversy

Although – by early 2005 - there seems to have been considerable unease at certain levels within the Army, and certainly amongst those required to use "Snatch" Land Rovers,, very little of this seems to have emerged into the public domain until mid-2006.

Conservative shadow defence minister Gerald Howarth, claims to have raised the matter in September 2005 with the then Secretary of State for Defence, later stating:

I think I was the first to raise the issue of armoured vehicles which I did on my return from Iraq in September 2005. I told John Reid privately that he had to do something to get better protection for the troops facing roadside bombs (privately because I represent a garrison town and know how careless politicians can cause increased anxiety). He told me that they were aware of the problem and actively seeking solutions, but would not be specific.

However, he did not follow this up with any Parliamentary questions or other overt activity. Nor was there any significant parliamentary activity elsewhere, from any other Member, until about mid-2006. The only recorded concern prior to that seems to have been in November 2003 – after "Snatch" Land Rovers had been deployed to Iraq. Then, Gerald Howarth appears to have been more concerned about whether there would be enough "armoured Land Rovers" in the light of an MoD decision to sell off some surplus vehicles.

By November 2005, however, there seems to have been some official concern – according to one newspaper report. Then, it is claimed (according to this newspaper and the sister paper, The Daily Star - not online) a memorandum was issued by Foreign and Commonwealth Office security manager, John Wyndham, prohibiting FCO and Department for International Development (DFID) staff from riding in Snatches. UK police and private training contractors were also prohibited from using the vehicles.

According to the report, Major General James Dutton, then commander, allied forces in south-easy Iraq had insisted on civil servants being allowed to ride in "Snatch" Land Rovers, but had been over-ruled by Wynham.

The RG-31 vehicle of the US Marine Corps destroyed near Camp Taqaddam on 7 January 2006.

As casualties mounted, what brought matters to a head was information emerging from theatre of the deployment of mine-protected vehicles by US Forces - these later being designated as Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) – who were suffering similar IED attacks. In particular, an incident was noted involving a USMC RG-31 (informally dubbed "Cougar") near Camp Taqaddam on 7 January 2006.. The RG-31 had taken an IED hit, sustaining significant damage, but the crew had survived with only minor injuries.

A photograph of the damaged vehicle was later published, which was picked up by a researcher working for Owen Paterson, a Conservative MP who had a constituency interest, with a major Army barracks in his area. This, in turn, was passed to the Conservative defence team and thence to Lord Astor of Hever, defence spokesman in The House of Lords.

Lord Astor raised the issue of "Snatch" vulnerability on 12 June 2006 in Defence Questions, complaining that it was "not remotely adequate for patrolling areas where insurgents use landmines," then asking:

Can the Minister assure the House that the Government will provide our soldiers with equipment that is fit for this role? What assessment have the Government made of the RG-31 which, with its V-shaped undercarriage, has a greater resilience to IEDs and which the Americans have bought in large numbers just for this role?

He was answered by defence procurement minster, Lord Drayson, who set the tone for the subsequent controversy, stating:

My Lords, I do not accept that Snatch Land Rovers are not appropriate for the role. We must recognise the difference between protection and survivability. It is important that we have the trade-offs that we need for mobility. The Snatch Land Rover provides us with the mobility and level of protection that we need. We had 14 RG-31s in Bosnia, which we took out of service some time ago due to difficulties with maintenance. We have looked at the RG-31 alongside a number of alternatives for our current fleet and concluded that the size and profile did not meet our needs. Size is important in the urban environment. The RG-31 cannot access areas that Snatch Land Rovers can get to.

The same information passed to the Conservative defence team had also been sent to journalist Christopher Booker, author of a weekly column in The Sunday Telegraph. On 18 June 2006 he published as his lead story details of the emerging "Snatch" controversy, together with a picture of the "Camp Taqaddam" RG-31. Booker noted that one reason British troops continued to be killed and injured in southern Iraq was that they were expected to patrol in lightly-armoured Land Rovers which give them no protection against roadside bombs and rocket-propelled grenades.

He also noted, "their American counterparts walk away unscathed, even when their RG31 armoured patrol vehicles are hit by the same explosives. Yet the Ministry of Defence has not equipped the British Army with the RG31, even though it is built by a British-owned company."

The Sunday Telegraph story was complemented by the publication of more details on a blog, inviting other blogs to join with their own posts – which some did – to create a classic blogstorm. (This was then supplemented by frequent additional posts to keep the debate informed.)

The following Thursday, 22 June 2006, there was a major defence debate in the House of Commons but, despite the media and blog activity, the issue was ignored by the front benches. It was raised, and then only in passing by Conservative back-bencher, Lee Scott, who complained that:

The American soldiers and marines in Iraq have access to RG-31 Nyala mine-protected vehicles which enable the crew to survive the blast of an improvised explosive device. Canadian troops deployed in Afghanistan also use RG-31s. British soldiers and Royal Marines need to make do with lightly protected Land Rovers.

The theme of IEDs was also taken up by Ann Winterton – also a Conservative back-bencher. She put to the minister "As our forces appear to be winning the firefights in Afghanistan, does he expect those who oppose our troops there and in other theatres to revert to the use of improvised explosive devices? If so, what vehicles are our forces to be equipped with to counter the threat?"

This invoked a non-committal response from defence minister Adam Ingram, who declared that, "…where we identify a threat - be it a new or technological threat - we identify a quick way to deal with it."

However, The Sunday Telegraph returned to the theme the following week, 25 June.. In the meantime, though, information had also been passed to Jonathan Ungoed-Thomas of The Sunday Times “Focus” team and, on the same day he, with defence correspondent Michael Smith, published a long report in their newspaper, as a "Focus" piece . The report was accompanied by a front-page "teaser" and a robust leader, under the title "Pay up and save lives", thus maximising the impact of the report. The leader declared:

We would naturally expect the ministry to do something about this. Far from it. The bureaucrats are digging in. It is not as if there is no alternative. The RG-31, an armoured Land Rover built by BAE Systems, is being used by the Americans and the United Nations. Some deaths from roadside bombs can never be prevented but other countries' soldiers seem better protected.

While Michael Smith was co-author of the "focus" piece, though, he was actually dismissive of the need for new protected vehicles. Writing on his blog, the same day as the "focus" piece went out in his name, he cited Brigadier Bill Moore, Director Equipment Capability (Ground Manoeuvre), saying that the use of heavy armour had to be balanced with the need for soldiers to interact with local communities.

Smith's argument was that, at 50cm wider than the "Snatch" Land Rover, "the RG-31 was not manoeuvrable enough to be used in the streets of Basra." It had the wrong profile for peacekeeping and an earlier version was used before by the British Army in Bosnia where it proved to have maintenance problems. "Its profile is all wrong and it's just that too big for Basra," he concluded.

This reflected a very real divergence of opinion within the military community, with the controversy being played out on the unofficial Army forum, where there was no agreement on the relative merits of "protection" versus mobility - the issues identified by Lord Drayson. A recurrent theme was that, since no amount of armour was sufficient protection against EFPs, it was better to rely on the manoeuvrability of the "Snatch".

Nevertheless, The Sunday Times report fully ignited the public controversy. The next day, during defence questions, no less than five opposition MPs challenged the then Secretary of State for Defence, Des Browne, on the safety of "Snatch" Land Rovers, including Dr Liam Fox, his Conservative counterpart. To his first challenger, David Ruffley, Browne responded:

I have seen that that is a serious issue, and have asked for a review. There are medium and long-term plans relating to vehicles, and I shall be considering what we can do to respond to the situation in the short term—although we do also respond by means of tactics and operational instructions.

Des Browne's review culminated in an order for additional Pinzgauer Vector protected patrol vehicles (deployed in Afghanistan) and 104 6x6 Force Protection Cougar mine protected vehicles, which were up-armoured to MoD specification and renamed Mastiff. This, perversely, was considerably heavier and larger than the RG-31.

However, the "Snatch" has continued in use and it has since been suggested that the vehicle is still inadequate for use in Iraq and Afghanistan, most recently by Major Sebastian Morley, the commander of D Squadron 23 SAS Britain's elite special reservist force in Afghanistan, who resigned and accused the British Government of "chronic underinvestment" in equipment. Reportedly he warned that people would be killed if the Snatch Land Rover vehicles continued to be used