The judges were impressed by SC Group’s success in winning a £75m plus contract for its military vehicle business, Supacat, from the Australian Government and more recent wins for Norway and New Zealand. SC Group has also developed new business streams, such as its SC Innovation business, in different market sectors including marine and energy.  The privately owned family business employs over 200 people.

SC Group Operations Director, Lizzie Jones, who accepted the award, said, “We are delighted to receive this award which rewards the whole company’s hard work and success producing world beating products”.

Please click the link below to watch another interview from the DVD exhibition:

https://www.defenceonline.co.uk/2016/10/21/sc-group-vehicle-adaptability/

The program will commence vehicle deliveries in the final quarter of 2017.

SC Group CEO, Nick Ames, said “We are delighted that New Zealand has chosen to join the HMT family.  Interoperability is an important element for the Special Forces community and commonality of spares and support, is a key driver in maintaining relatively small fleets.”

Designed for, and used by, the world’s elite Special Forces, the HMT Extenda is unique in being convertible to either a 4×4 or 6×6 configuration to meet different operational requirements.  Its open architecture provides for various levels of protection and great variety in the roles and missions for which it can be configured.  New Zealand is a new customer for Supacat and the latest defence
force to join the HMT family.

Michael Halloran, Managing Director Asia Pacific said, “We are very pleased to have reached this milestone with our friends in New Zealand and we are dedicated to providing the New Zealand Defence Force with the best cross country wheeled mobility in the world.  This is a very exciting time for the Supacat team in Australia as it is the first time that we have entered into a product export
contract.”

The SOV-MH vehicles will be manufactured at Supacat’s existing assembly facilities in Australia using Supacat Team Australia members to manufacture and assemble the vehicle.  This represents the first time that Supacat Team Australia members will be exporting completed vehicles and complements the opportunities already emerging for Australian suppliers to enter Supacat’s global
supply chains.

The new variants include HMT in the Recovery, Logistic Support and Gun Towing roles as well as a unique 4×4 to 6×6 convertible feature for `Jackal`.   At DVD Supacat is unveiling the Logistic Support and Recovery variants, the former will be exhibited on the Supacat stand and the latter as a static display on the off-road area.

Supacat is also highlighting how the 4×4 `Jackal` can be re-rolled into a 6×6 `Coyote` using the unique convertible concept of its HMT Extenda special operations variant to increase payload, capacity and range.  By inserting or removing a self-contained third axle HMT Extenda is convertible to a 4×4 or 6×6 configuration within a day to meet different operational requirements.

“The new variants demonstrate the flexibility of the HMT platform and the different roles it can perform now and in future programmes where it could be offered”, said Phil Applegarth, Head of Supacat.  “For UK MoD programmes where we do not have a direct product to offer we are looking for teaming opportunities with international primes, similar to our partnership with Rheinmetall on its bid for the Challenger 2 Life Extension Programme”.

Supacat is also displaying at DVD its all-new LRV400 Mk2 light reconnaissance vehicle, a high performance off-road vehicle for rapid intervention operations.  It offers a highly versatile tactical capability for special forces; it has the unique 4×4 to 6×6 convertible feature  and can be transported inside a CH-47 Chinook fully equipped and loaded, making it immediately deployable. At DVD, Supacat will be displaying a concept demonstrator 6×6 version of the LRV

DVD, Millbrook, UK

Stand: OR-18

 

Encouraging its engineers to attain Chartered Engineer status through the IMechE is playing an important role in SC Group’s successful diversification strategy into new sectors was the message to the President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), Prof Richard Folkson, in a visit to the Devon based design and engineering firm yesterday.   Today nearly half the Group’s UK based 30 strong engineering team have Chartered status or are undergoing sponsored registration with the IMechE.  Five years ago there were two.

“Being registered as a Chartered Engineer with the IMechE is an internationally recognised accreditation which is respected across multiple industry sectors.  It provides our new and existing customers with assurance of our high level of professional competency and compliance”, said Steve Austen, FIMechEng, Engineering Director of SC Group and the IMechE Wessex region’s `Engineer of the Year`.

Prof Richard Folkson, President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said:

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to meet with the hugely talented engineers at SC Group and to witness some of the cutting-edge innovations the company is developing.

SC Group is a UK manufacturing success story. The equipment and vehicles they are developing are integral to the work of the army, as well as lifeboat rescue teams, and show just how important it is for the UK to have a vibrant and skilled engineering workforce”.

Last year the company rebranded under a new SC Group identity comprising four distinct businesses: Supacat continues as the brand for its core military vehicle business; SC Innovation offers engineering equipment design for diversified sectors such as marine, oil & gas, nuclear and renewables; Proteum for the marine products and services; and Blackhill Engineering brings large fabrication and associated machining.

The President visited the Design Office to meet with the engineering team and then toured the workshops where he inspected Supacat’s new Lightweight Reconnaissance Vehicle (LRV400) and SC Innovation’s Lifeboat Launch & Recovery System developed with the RNLI.   The visit concluded at the Test Track where Richard Folkson, a former Chief Engineer for Ford UK, and the IMechE delegation got the chance to test drive the acclaimed `Jackal` and other high mobility vehicles, for which the company is renowned.

Richard Folkson was accompanied on the visit by Ian Parsons, IMechE Western Region Chairman; John Earp, IMechE Devon & Somerset Area Chairman Alan King, IMechE Business Development Manager and Jill Dwyer, IMechE Business Development Executive.

Click here to visit the IMechE website:

https://www.imeche.org/news/news-article/chartered-engineer-registrations-supports-sc-group-expansion-into-new-markets-hears-imeche-president-in-visit-to-devon-engineering-group

Roger Baker has joined UK high mobility vehicle specialist, Supacat, as Post Design Services (PDS) Manager. In this role he will liaise directly with the UK MoD customer, ensuring the Supacat family of vehicles continually evolve in order to best support our end-user’s requirements. Roger will also manage and control customer engineering upgrade projects to ensure all modifications are developed, implemented and supported throughout the Supacat range.

A Mechanical Engineer by trade, he served a 22-year Army career with the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers. This involved working with a wide range of military vehicles, hence, Roger brings with him both technical engineering ability and operational capability experience.

During his Army career, Roger has managed repair facilities supporting Protected Mobility Vehicles. More recently, whilst at the Combat Service Support Trials and Development Unit, he was responsible for trialling, developing and bringing into service a wide range of military vehicles and associated equipment. Roger’s wealth of military operational experience combined with his understanding of equipment maintainer issues and user needs adds significant value to Supacat’s support offering in building strong and credible relationships with our stakeholders.

Ben Gaffney has joined UK high mobility vehicle specialist, Supacat, as Deputy Head of New Programmes following a 17 year career in the Royal Marines. A graduate of the Joint Command and Staff course at the UK Defence Academy, he brings both Operational and Defence capability management experience.

He has been responsible for the delivery of Combat capabilities to front line units and the development of specialist capabilities to the UK’s Commando Force. In his new role he will oversee the successful delivery of the £23 million Norwegian Special Operations Vehicle Project awarded to Supacat last year for a new fleet of HMT Extenda vehicles.

Ben will also be responsible for developing new commercial opportunities in UK and export defence markets for Supacat’s range of vehicles, which include the HMT Series, LRV 400 and SPV 400. Supacat has a world lead in the niche special operations vehicle sector where the HMT Extenda has become the vehicle of choice.

“Ben brings to Supacat a huge amount of end user experience in protected mobility and his understanding of users’ needs will be a major asset in building strong relationships with our stakeholders. Ben also has the distinction of successfully rowing the Atlantic in a two man boat and we’re delighted to have him on our team”, said Phil Applegarth, Head of Supacat.