Probably not the Al-Thalab, which was first produced in 2006 for Jordan.

It was announced in 2014 that the SAS were buying a fleet of around 60 Toyota Hilux for use in counter insurgency operations.

As Toyota don't produce military-spec vehicles, the British Army had to convert the Hilux to their spec.

The US Special Forces adopted locally four wheel drive vehicles, including the Hilux, a while ago, and it is thought the SAS have followed this lead. One of the advantages of the Hilux is that it isn't as immediately recognisable as a UK military vehicle, as the Landrover is/was.

Hilux would probably be more reliable as well ....

Edited by Auristocrat on 08/08/2016 at 22:11

Toyota 70 series are tough as old boots (as are 80s and 105s), even the civilian versions.

The world it must be said is full of proper Toyota 4x4s ( not comparable to the newer softer european versions) which simply refuse to break down, well proven long life mechanicals, able to be fixed easily and quickly in the field, in the case of 70 series every single electrical component. ie relays having stamped on them the voltage and its purpose, a mechanics dream.

In hostile country the last thing a soldier would need is a vehicle that's likely to give immobiliser or other avoidable problems when a horde of whatever is the current mob of cut-throats is heading their way at breakneck speed, if the other product can't be trusted to start and get you mobile, the Toyotas will.

I mention immobilisers for good reason.

About a year before the British Army ordered the Hilux, West Midlands Fire Service ordered a fleet of Hilux Brigade Response Vehicles after using Landrover products during a three month trial - www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/west-midl...8

The Fire Service currently has a fleet of 19 Hilux serving as Response Vehicles.

h!

Whilst I want our troops to have the best of the best, the Land Rover enthusiast part of me is slightly dissapointed, and struggling to see how the LC is a better option than a LR. Thoughts?

Read the various reliability studies.

Land Rovers are notorius for unreliability.

Of course, it was a Top Gear stunt but remember the Toyota Hilux they tried (and failed) to kill?

From the Top Gear wiki:

"Clarkson set out to prove that Hiluxes are the toughest vehicles in the world. Obtaining a 1988 diesel Hilux with 305,775 km (190,000 mi) on the odometer, he drove it down a flight of stairs, sideswiped buildings, and crashed it headlong into a tree.

"It was then tethered it to a slipway into the sea - at low tide. When the tide rose, the vehicle was drowned and the windscreen was washed out and lost. The tethers then broke, and later that night (when the tide went out) the truck was found half-buried in sand. It was then dragged out and cleaned of sand. The whole car was thoroughly soaked, but despite a flooded engine it drove off. (A mechanic was permitted to work on it, but only using a basic tool kit and no replacement parts.)

"The Hilux was then taken to the Top Gear Test Track, and it was driven through the 'Top Gear Production Office'; basically a wooden shed with a single door and window. The truck was unharmed. After having a caravan dropped onto it (still no effect), it was hit with a wrecking ball, which merely buckled the rear loadbed. As night drew in, Clarkson decided that the only way to destroy the truck was with fire. The Hilux was scorched, but still entirely driveable."

Oddly enough, an MOD supplier has just contacted me with regards to supplying them with all sorts of goodies for the Land Cruisers concerned.