UK Completes $54 Million Viking Amphibious Vehicle Fleet Upgrade

The UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced Friday that it has completed £37 million (US $54 million) upgrade of the 99 Viking amphibious all-terrain vehicles used by the Royal Marines and have reached full operational capability.

The MoD had announced in September 2012 that 99 Viking vehicles would be regenerated under a new contract with BAE Systems.

The revamp of the Viking Fleet has seen the vehicles fitted with new mine blast protected Hulls designed to offer additional defence should they encounter an explosive device. In addition the entire fleet has had improvements made to its braking and suspension systems. The project has been managed by the MOD’s Defence Equipment and Support organistion based in Bristol, the MoD said in a statement Friday.

The amphibious vehicles can be launched straight from a ship and propelled through water before landing for a beach assault. Their versatility across tough terrains was put to use when deployed on operations in Afghanistan.

Defence Minister Philip Dunne said, “The £37 million upgrades include improvements to the braking and suspension systems, as well as new mine blast protection to help keep our troops safe.”

“These advances have been made possible by the Government’s growing Defence budget and our £178 billion investment in procuring and maintaining the best possible kit for our Armed Forces,” Dunne added.

The forward cabin of all 99 vehicles have been fitted with a Protected Weapon Mount (PWM) which pivots 360 degrees and can be used with either a 12.7mm Browning heavy machine gun or 7.62 general purpose machine gun. Nine Viking vehicles have also been upgraded to allow the firing of an 81mm mortar from the vehicle.

The Regeneration Programme currently secures the vehicle’s service life until 2024 with an option to further extend that date until 2034.