Modern military vehicle fleets are changing quickly. Platforms are becoming more digitally integrated and equipment has to remain adaptable across longer service lives. Alongside those changes, the systems used to recover and support vehicles are evolving too.

The Light Mobility Vehicle (LMV) programme represents a generational renewal of the UK Joint Force’s light vehicle fleet. Around 6,000 Land Rovers and 500 Pinzgauers are expected to be replaced with a single platform delivered and supported under one contract for at least twenty years.

EKA Limited is pleased to announce it is joined by System Design & Evaluation Ltd (SDE) under EKA Group Holdings Limited, parent organisation of both EKA Limited and SDE. This development marks an important step in strengthening the combined capability available to the UK Ministry of Defence and wider defence community. 

I am extremely proud to be taking on the role of Managing Director of EKA Limited, and honoured by the trust placed in me through this appointment.  Since joining EKA in 2008, I have been fortunate to work with talented colleagues across an important period in the company’s development. Over that time, I have had the opportunity to contribute to the delivery of major programmes including SV(R) and the TR2000 Repair & Overhaul programme, and more recently to support the successful pursuit of the MLRS RRV Mid Life Upgrade contract with NSPA. My background at EKA has spanned quality, programme management and operations leadership, which has given me a deep appreciation of the business, our customers and the standards expected in delivering critical defence capability. 

Military recovery is often misunderstood as a purely technical trade carried out behind the scenes. In reality, recovery is a command led capability that protects combat power across the full depth of the battlefield. When equipment becomes immobilised, damaged or broken down, the consequences reach far beyond a single vehicle. Recovery enables tempo, freedom of movement and operational endurance. Without it, combat formations would quickly become fixed, routes would clog with casualties and commanders would lose the flexibility required to manoeuvre.

When a new recovery platform enters service attention often focuses on power, lift capacity and technology. Yet in practice the long term performance of any system depends just as much on what sits behind the engineering. Integrated logistics support (ILS) is the discipline that keeps equipment available, safe and cost effective throughout its life. When it is treated as optional capability suffers. When it is built in from the start platforms remain reliable and supportable for decades.

In military recovery and logistics, few subjects spark more debate than the balance between safety and operational freedom. The Special Types General Order (STGO) regulations were created to protect the public and infrastructure when abnormal loads move on civilian roads. They set out clear limits for axle weights, escort requirements and notification periods, ensuring that large or heavy vehicles can operate safely on public highways.

At the heart of every recovery vehicle lies its most powerful and adaptable asset – the winch. It is the system that transforms a standard vehicle into a recovery platform and delivers the capability to move, lift or recover assets in the most demanding conditions. Without it, even the most capable vehicle is simply a tow truck. With it, a recovery vehicle can deliver decisive capability in the field. That is why understanding how a winch works and how to specify the right one for the task is at the heart of effective recovery planning.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has signalled its intent to modernise the British Army’s heavy equipment transporter (HET) capability. This move marks a pivotal moment for the defence supply chain. HET provides a critical function, delivering heavy armoured vehicles like the Challenger 2 MBT swiftly and safely, without adding undue mileage or strain to their drivetrains.

At the end of May, a group of EKA staff visited MOD Lyneham for a day hosted by the Recovery Training Wing and the REME Museum. REME - the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers - is the British Army corps responsible for keeping equipment in fighting order and includes the highly skilled recovery mechanics who operate many of the platforms EKA supports.