In a written response to Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, defence minister Luke Pollard said “there are no plans to extend the out-of-service date for Warrior beyond 2027, and as such an extension is not under consideration.” The answer makes clear that the Army will not revisit the decision to retire the long-serving infantry fighting vehicle, despite ongoing concern about potential armoured capability gaps. Pollard said the department’s focus is now on delivering the ambitions set out in the Strategic Defence Review. He told Parliament that priority is being given to “achieving the Strategic Defence Review’s vision for a tenfold increase in British Army lethality over the next decade,” with modern armoured fighting vehicles forming part of a wider force structure. The minister added that future capability will rely on “survivable and lethal platforms” operating alongside “new layered systems of attritable and consumable platforms,” signalling a continued shift away from extending legacy equipment and towards mixed, multi-layered force designs.

y’know, maybe before you switch to “attritable and consumable” platforms, you should make sure you actually have the industrial capability to make enough things that you can indeed treat them as consumable?

Recently, we reported that the government confirmed that Project ATILLA, the Army’s plan to convert retired Warrior infantry fighting vehicles into optionally crewed minefield-breaching platforms, has now advanced beyond its initial concept work and entered the early stages of commercial competition. Responding to a written question from Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, Defence Minister Luke Pollard said ATILLA “has progressed from considering conceptual elements such as evaluating project feasibility” and is now preparing to move into the Invitation to Tender stage. He did not provide a date for the formal end of the concept phase, but the answer makes clear that the programme has already passed that milestone. The clarification follows earlier disclosures setting out the structure and ambition of ATILLA. As previously reported, the programme aims to turn surplus Warrior hulls into heavy, attritable uncrewed ground vehicles capable of breaching minefields for the Royal Engineers. A Prior Information Notice published in August revealed the MoD’s intention to procure up to six converted Warriors as a Minimum Deployable Capability, fitted with front-end breaching equipment and able to operate either with a crew or remotely. From the outset, ATILLA has been designed as a spiral-development effort. Phase 1 will deliver the initial six vehicles for operational use and experimentation, while Phase 2 will focus on advancing autonomy and refining requirements for a future purpose-built heavy UGV fleet. Industry bidders must meet a stringent entry test, with only suppliers able to deliver six fully functioning optionally crewed breaching vehicles within the set time limits allowed to progress.

The logic behind the project is straightforward: Warrior’s retirement from frontline service leaves the Army with robust tracked hulls offering the mobility, protection and payload needed for high-risk engineering tasks. Converting them avoids the lengthy timelines and significant expense associated with designing a bespoke platform from scratch, and gives the Royal Engineers a survivable option for clearing minefields without placing crews directly in harm’s way. According to the Ministry of Defence, by cutting through minefields, the device clears explosives and pushes them aside, opening a safe path for troops to move faster and more securely towards critical enemy positions or key objectives, outpacing current methods in speed and safety. “The device, called WEEVIL, was developed collaboratively by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and Pearson Engineering Ltd – a British company based in the north-east – using the latest tech. WEEVIL can clear minefields quicker and safer than present capabilities, reducing risk to soldiers on the front line. Current mine-clearing methods include the TROJAN Armoured Vehicle, which requires a three-person crew to operate directly within hazardous areas.” “The system prototype currently uses the Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicle, fitted with a full-width mine plough, advanced remote-control system, and vehicle-mounted cameras. This allows it to be operated by a single person from several miles away from danger and is expected to be able to adapt to work with any suitable vehicle platform. The ground-breaking trials are set to continue with the British Army, who will push the robotic system to its limits, providing vital insight to inform future mine-clearing capabilities. The prevalence of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines in modern warfare to slow troop movements has been highlighted by the conflict in Ukraine.”