OV9

With Ineos and its Grenadier already in the mix (I saw one near Minley recently being tested), JLR has entered with the Wolf 2, based on the new Defender. Not often we have two national offerings that have high potential

Hoping they go with the Ineos. It also looks far smaller which is a bonus but might be deceptive, it would be interesting to see them side by side.

If they are using the Ingenium engine, I think technically it's sabotage

Dave!

Pretty poor show that none of the options are fully built in the uk.

It's fair to say the comments are not in favour of it

V8Granite wrote: Thu Sep 17, 2026 6:35 am Hoping they go with the Ineos. It also looks far smaller which is a bonus but might be deceptive, it would be interesting to see them side by side.

If they are using the Ingenium engine, I think technically it's sabotage

Dave!

A grenadier is going to weigh about 6 tonnes by the time they add armour and a big gun.

The technical already perfected the consumer car based mil vehicle anyway

The final WMIK on the old Defender chassis were nearly 5 tons. They had Salisbury front and rear axles which had their own issues but were very strong. It's about the time they changed from steel to alloy wheels as the old Wolf wheels weren't strong enough.

The Kevlar armour in the early ones was removed for more ammunition as the logic was all the important stuff was exposed so more ammunition was better than a possible leg wound.

The Ineos has axles designed for a much heavier vehicle already, much bigger bearings and flanges etc, Unimog size driveshafts etc. that's 2.8 tons alone as a Fieldmaster diesel. I wonder if the armour is a new body or tacked onto it. The pictures look like it could be either. The ladder frame is huge on them too and will not need much work if any. The Wolf chassis mods to the old Defenders were an extra crossbar in the chassis and a few extra gussets, that was good enough for them rolling around at about 6 ton loaded.

It would be nice if whatever was modified to be done in the UK at least.

Dave!

I would say it's better to build something from scratch than start from a heavy and complicated consumer SUV but having seen the MOD fumble the AJAX development I'm not sure what the right answer is tbh.

Can't help but think that using the Grenadier would just be giving Ineos loads of money for a vehicle that isn't as useful as it should be.

Like the standard grenadier.

Having seen a few, I would say the Grenadier is wider than a Defender and seems to have an appalling turning circle, so how practical it would be in the UK is questionable. But I suppose war in the UK is err… unlikely?

Mind you, putting all the electronics where squaddies will perch their tea doesn’t seem smart either!

I just checked as my 110 has an awful turning circle and the Ineos is 1 metre better than the old 110 Wolf.

The Ineos is 70mm narrower, which I didn't expect to be honest, it's also slightly longer with its bumpers sticking out so much.

Hopefully the squaddies get to pick what they want to go to war in and they get as many as they need.

Dave!

ZedLeg wrote: Thu Sep 17, 2026 11:52 am I would say it's better to build something from scratch than start from a heavy and complicated consumer SUV but having seen the MOD fumble the AJAX development I'm not sure what the right answer is tbh.

Can't help but think that using the Grenadier would just be giving Ineos loads of money for a vehicle that isn't as useful as it should be.

Like the standard grenadier.

This. I’d want a V shaped chassis skateboard thing and then you can fit whatever you want on top. Of course mention the words government and contract in the same breath and it will cost billions and take decades to make.

They already have those vehicles, this is for light work and to replace a Defender sized vehicle.

You're not going to move everyone about in a battlefield in a Foxhound or Jackal at 40mph unless you really need to. Forgetting the costs, when you get a Foxhound stuck you need another one or two to get it out, very hard to hide and a huge logistics issue.

A good friend of mine spent a long time fighting from a WMIK and seemed to do very well with it, not every situation needs a Challenger 2.

I think if they refurbished a load of G Wagons from the 90s though most people would be pretty pleased with a well proven vehicle

Dave!

Sure, I get that not every vehicle needs to be a heavy duty trophy truck but the new defender and grenadier just seem like the wrong starting point.

You want something light, mechanically and electronically simple and durable.

Exactly like an old G Wagen.

Double post

V8Granite wrote: Thu Sep 17, 2026 12:51 pm I just checked as my 110 has an awful turning circle and the Ineos is 1 metre better than the old 110 Wolf.

The Ineos is 70mm narrower, which I didn't expect to be honest, it's also slightly longer with its bumpers sticking out so much.

Hopefully the squaddies get to pick what they want to go to war in and they get as many as they need.

Dave!

What was your turning circle ~14.9m? New Defender is ~ 90: 11.3m and 110/130: 12.8m.
Grenadier is 12.8m with Quartermaster 13.8 to 14.5m!

Also dimensions are weird: Grenadier is 41mm wider if you include wing mirrors and I think the without figures are excluding the wrap around bumper, which along with the frontal aspect ratio make it look even wider to me.

I'm not sure how important wing mirrors are for width, as they generally don't matter when finding a parking spot.

The Wolf and 110s with 265 tires have the same steering lock stop on the axle. Apart from a couple of times it was never a problem.

They should do the test as a tv show over 4 episodes and let the public decide the winner

Dave!

It'll be Defender McDefenderFace vs Grenadier McGrenadierFace...