Taking the Jackal for a spin
5 Jun 08
The new Jackal 4x4 patrol vehicles are made from converting Supacat high-mobility vehicles into weapon and armoured mounted military vehicles. Defence Focus writer Roy Bacon takes a Supacat 400 for a spin and finds his inner Jeremy Clarkson.
Top Gear: Roy Bacon and Scott Bennett get dirty with Supacat 400
[Picture: MOD]
Supacat's Scott Bennett enjoys his job. Today the task is terrifying his passengers by driving a Supacat HMT 400 as fast as possible over the ruts and humps of MOD's long valley proving ground.
Long Valley, outside Aldershot, is wetter than Afghanistan, and on the day of our visit some of the dips in the flint and gravel track have nearly a metre of water in them. But the terrain has something in common with Helmand: it provides a punishing workout for vehicles.
Having frightened me sufficiently, Scott moves into the passenger seat, and we set off more gently. The automatic gearbox is smooth and the steering effortless. I am barely aware that I'm driving a beast that is capable of 90 mph (145 k/ph) on the open road.
The 400 puts a smile on your face, partly because despite being open to the elements the vehicle feels extremely safe. There's not much the terrain can throw at you that the run-flat tyres and the 5.9 litre Cummins engine can't cope with. The spray flies and the horizon tilts, but the wagon keeps rolling along.
Devon-based Supacat specialises in the design of high-mobility vehicles. It does small scale manufacturing in-house, but for larger projects works with others. Plymouth neighbours Babcock Marine are constructing the Helmand-bound Jackals.
Supacat started 20 years ago by manufacturing something that looked like the Banana Buggy - the personal transport of the Banana Splits, as all children over forty will remember - a six-wheel all-terrain vehicle whose skid-steer capability gives it a turning circle only slightly greater than its length. The Supacat 6x6 will even float, making it the ideal transport for extreme anglers.
The company's latest project is a submersible tractor-trailer for launching the RNLI's new lifeboats.
Fifteen minutes behind the wheel of a Supacat 400 is all it takes to bring out the Jeremy Clarkson in the mildest-mannered driver. It's likely to have the same testosterone-boosting effect on the boys on the front line in Helmand. Drive on.