Land Rover 1/2 ton Lightweight

The Lightweight 1/2 ton was a British military vehicle supplied by Land Rover.

History

The British Army requested a vehicle that could be carried by air to the front line. They had taken delivery of the Westland Wessex helicopter in the 1960s, which could carry an 1140 kg (2,500 lb) load slung beneath.

The smallest Land Rover available at the time was a Series 2A 88 inch (2235 mm) wheelbase, which was too heavy. It was stripped down by removing as many non-essential items and reducing others to give the "Series IIA Lightweight". This process included dispensing with the front bumper and the spare tyre. Parts of the body, the doors, and windscreen were replaced with simpler, easy to remove items. The most major change was a reduction in width, which meant it would fit on a standard pallet but requiring shorter axles.

Complete, the Lightweight IIA weighed Auto lb|2650|0, over the specified weight and heavier in fact than a 'standard' landrover. The term 'lightweight' was, therefore an oxymoron. However, with the removable body panels taken-off it was below the limit. Since improvements to the helicopters meant more lift was available, the MoD accepted it for use.

Production

Series IIA production began in 1968. The Series IIA Lightweight was replaced by the Series III Lightweight in 1972 matching the replacement of the civilian IIA with the III. The most notable change being the move of the headlights from the grill to the wings in line with new automotive lighting regs.

Lightweight production ended in 1984 when the parent Land Rover Series III was replaced by the models 90 and 110.

Operators

*Over 20 countries besides the British Army.
*LHD models were used by the British Armed Forces in support of their NATO commitments.
*Many LHD models were used by the Dutch military and were predominantly fitted with diesel engines.

Variants

*Some diesel engine models.
*24-volt electrical systems as FFR (Fitted For Radio)
*Hard top
*10.6 mm recoilless rifle anti-tank gun.
*Dutch Variants - Easily identified by having turn signal lights positioned on the tops of the wings instead of on the front by headlights. These also had modified tail and brake lights.