On June 30, 2023, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced a new tender for the purchase and instalment of rear safety camera systems (RSCS) or rearview driving cameras to be fitted to the FV510 Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV). The work would also include wipers and the cabling to be fitted to 359 Warrior IFVs over a two-year period, costing up to £20m. There has been criticism that this is far too expensive for this type of upgrade.
The announcement comes on top of the £430m already spent on overhauling the Warrior fleet, before the government announced in 2021 that: “We will no longer upgrade Warrior, but it will remain in service until replaced by Boxer, which we expect to happen by the middle of this decade.” Boxer is an 8x8 wheeled multirole armoured vehicle (MRAV).
While £20m may seem like loose change to the MOD compared to the millions spent on Warrior to date, not to mention the billions thrown at Ajax, the cost of the RSCS upgrade works out to be £55,000 per vehicle. This cost will typically be inflated over the course of the project, due to the delays and errors that commonly plague procurement teams, but it’s worth bearing in mind that you can buy a new, fully functioning, highrange sports utility car for £55,000, which incidentally comes with rearview safety cameras as part of the package.
