It’s a matter of life and death: The work of the Armour Trials Development Unit (From Bournemouth Echo)

It’s a matter of life and death: The work of the Armour Trials Development Unit

7:00pm Tuesday 7th July 2009 in

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DURING the past week another five British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan – three in armoured vehicles.

Two were killed when their Viking was blown up and another when his vehicle was hit by a Rocket Propelled Grenade.

In few places will those deaths have been more keenly felt than at a sensitive Dorset army base.

The work of the Armour Trials and Development Unit (ATDU) at Bovington is literally a matter of life and death.

Staff can’t talk about some things they do after signing the Official Secrets Act.

But the 58 soldiers and civilians make sure armoured vehicles are fit for use, especially in Afghanistan.

They test almost everything – the armour, gun mounts, laser sights, and engines.

The day-to-day trials are carried out by soldiers who’ve recently returned from combat.

They know what they are talking about – and care about getting results.

“It gives you the aggression to do the work,” said Lance Corporal of Horse Martin Privett. “If it means working late, you work late.”

Lance Corporal Charlie Manchester said: “At the end of the day it’s going to be me using it, and I have got friends out there now.”

The ATDU have been buzzing with activity since troops went into Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Yes, it’s exciting, and yes, it’s fascinating,” said the commander Lt Col Chris Borneman, 43. “I would just rather it didn’t involve soldiers who died or lost limbs.”

There are seven other TDUs across the country. The Bovington staff work on heavier armoured vehicles like the Challenger 2 tank.

The site has a workshop so prototypes can be made and tested as quickly as possible to meet urgent needs from the battlefield.

Civilian Workshop manager Andy Jones, from Wool, often sees parts he has worked on appear on the news.

He said: “The wife looks and me and says ‘oh yes?’ I have to say ‘can’t talk about it love, top secret’.”

The armour on some older army vehicles has been criticised, though the troops of the ATDU are impressed with the new vehicles and the improvements to existing models.

The emphasis is on survivability – not of the vehicle, but of the men.

Lt Col Bonerman said it was 30 per cent down to the equipment, 60 per cent tactics and procedures, and 10 per cent luck.

They also test the “interface” between troops and the vehicles – for example can troops get in and out wearing the new Osprey body armour?

The ATDU recently tested the state of the art Panther command vehicle which is replacing the 1950s designed Ferret armoured car.

Lance Corporal Manchester said: “It’s like going from a Mini Cooper to a Bugatti Veyron.”

Lt Con Borneman regularly visits Afghanistan and the unit strives for constant evolution of equipment because battlefield conditions can quickly change.

Watching troops training around Bovington in Vikings armoured personnel carriers is a sobering experience.

They heralded a great success when introduced in 2006 because their manoeuvrability could take the fight off-road and into the Taliban heartlands.

However, that same year the Taliban were defeated in open battle and switched to Iraq-style roadside bombs – the Viking’s armour cannot cope and is being replaced.

Its successor, the Warthog, is likely to have trials at the ATDU later this year.

The testers try to replicate what the vehicles do in Afghanistan. So they might “patrol” from 7am to 6pm at night.

“It’s every little boy’s dream, and I get paid to do it,” smiled civilian worker Wayne Dennis from Bovington as he drove the Panther up, down and around the test course.

However he hears war stories from the troops and knows what’s at stake. “Lives depend on what we do,” he said.

The Scimitar light tank is an example of the ATDU’s development in action.

It was fitted with extra ‘bar armour’ to block RPGs but its weight shot up from 9 tonnes to 12 and a half.

The engines were failing under the strain so the power was increased from 190 to 235 horsepower.

Troops were also having to change the engine filter twice a day in the dusty conditions.

A snorkle was fitted, reducing that to once a week, and a new filtration system cut changes to once every 8-10,000 miles.

The Scimitars 30mm cannon outguns anything the Taliban have and Lt Col Borneman said: “This vehicle has been in a number of hard fire fights, which is completely different from the reconnaissance work it was originally intended to do.

“It’s a classic example of a vehicle used out of role but very successfully.”