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Snatch Land Rover: The Classic Defender That Tried to be a Humvee

It's Land Rover Month around these parts, and we've been celebrating by showcasing some of the most innovative, inspiring, and iconic designs from the world's best 4x4 builders.
Snatch Land Rover 6 photos
Photo: Wikimedia Commons ( Fair Use)
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So far, we've shown you the Land Rover Wolf, an unarmed, un-armored military off-roader that's more suited to win hearts and minds in the streets of an urban war zone than it is for actual combat. As far as NATO is concerned, that's historically been delegated to the American Humvee.

But a modern Army can't survive on the brute force of Humvees alone. Sometimes, you're going to need something more to supplement the ranks. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Snatch Land Rover, the fully armored, mine-resistant version of the military Land Rover 110 the Wolf only wishes it could be.

First produced in 1992, the Snatch Land Rover pre-dates the 110 Defender's designation as the Wolf platform between 1994 and 1998. The design sits on top of the upgraded Heavy Duty Land Rover XD platform in which the Wolf also has its basis. The Land Rover 300 TDI engine is found in the Wolf as well, at least in later models dodgy timing belts and all. Early models sported a V8 gasoline engine instead.

But composite blast and firearm-resistant armor are far from the only difference between a Snatch Land Rover and the average Defender Wolf. To further protect against IED devices, the Snatch Land Rover cruises into battle with electronic countermeasures arrays that could potentially prevent proximity-triggered explosives from operating by using electronic jamming to prevent the detonator from triggering.

Snatch Land Rover
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Fair Use)
Snatch Land Rovers also carry the Bowman communications system. A radio suite operating on as many as three different frequencies. This ensures, at least in theory, that communication between the vehicle and base camp is maintained even after an IED explosion. It was hoped that the extra protection and the latest comms technology would be a combination that sees British forces to victory.

As many as six different versions of the Snatch have been produced since 1992. Ranging from the basic armored trainer dubbed the Snatch II in left-hand-drive, a right-hand-drive variant for "the rest of the world," and the right-hand-drive model intended exclusively for urban combat.

Interestingly, the Snatch Land Rover was not only designed for war zone combat. It was also intended to be used as a counter-terrorism vehicle that saw extensive use in the civil unrest taking place between the Irish Republican Army and the British Armed Forces. A period from the late 60s until the late 1990s is generally referred to as "the Troubles" by the locals.

It was here that the improvised explosive device-resistant armored Land Rover made its very first patrols. Hundreds of British soldiers lost their lives to IED devices planted by the IRA in these times. It was thought the Snatch Land Rover might give them a higher chance of survival in these areas.

Snatch Land Rover
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Fair Use)
It was during the Troubles that the Armored Land Rover earned its name. Named aptly because of the vehicle's role in British Army snatch squads. Groups of highly trained soldiers whose mission was to locate, apprehend, and arrest high-ranking IRA demonstrators accused of crimes against humanity. These snatch squads gave their Land Rover a name that will stick with it forever.

Sadly, thoughts of the Snatch Land Rover's performance didn't nearly match the high and lofty expectations that the Ministry of Defense had expected from the project. Not only were the results from patrols in Ireland less than satisfactory, but the worst had still yet to come. The worst in question came in the form of the War on Terror both in Iraq and Afghanistan.

During this war, the MOD was inundated with complaints from politicians as well as loved ones of soldiers the Snatch Land Rover failed to protect from IED blasts. By 2005, British media was reporting on breaking news that the Department for Internal Development was formally advising against using Snatch Land Rovers in high-risk environments going forward in the war.

It's estimated that 37 soldiers at least met their ends inside Snatch Land Rovers. Either from IED explosions or while under a hail of armor-piercing rifle fire. At least four British families have attempted to sue the Ministry of Defense for emotional damages resulting from the 4x4s sub-bar battle protection. Some even went as far as to trash the Snatch Land Rover's reputation by calling them "mobile coffins."

Snatch Land Rover
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Fair Use)
All the while, the specialized MRAP version of the American Humvee was seeing praise in the very same war, the likes of which not seen since the Willys-Jeep. A flawed and inefficient vehicle it may have been, but there's no arguing around being able to shrug off an IED without much complaint at all.

With other mine-resistant vehicles like the joint South African-American Cougar ready by at least 2002, the Snatch Land Rover's days on the front lines have been numbered ever since. In 2010, Prime Minister Gordon Brown confirmed the Snatch Land Rover was due to be replaced.

That replacement would be the gargantuan Force Protection Ocelot, a vehicle more akin to a Humvee than a Land Rover. What does this tell us? Likely that it's best if Land Rovers stick to winning hearts and minds instead of trying to shrug off explosives. Check back for more from Land Rover month right here on autoevolution.
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