A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The British Ministry of Defense is going to stop buying the military version of the Land Rover, which had been a staple of the British army. The civilian models, though, are not going away. Willem Marx reports on the end of an era for a military workhorse.
WILLEM MARX, BYLINE: First developed in the late 1940s, the Land Rover was a radical change from traditional car design, built to be tough, flexible and easy to repair, as British newsreels at the time celebrated.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: A few years after the war, the Rover company produced the Land Rover, most versatile wheeled vehicle ever made. This complete departure from routine car manufacture surprised the world.
MARX: The vehicle quickly proved popular with Britain's military, entering service in the 1950s and going on to be deployed in conflict zones, peacekeeping missions and training exercises across the globe. Until recently, its appeal was rooted in its simplicity, according to Major Donald Urquhart of the British army's 154 Regiment Royal Logistics Corps.
DONALD URQUHART: These vehicles are still very successful because they don't have any electronics on them. So in the field, on operations around the world, you're not going to have the workshop backup you would have in the U.K. And so it's absolutely critical to have vehicles which can be fixed with limited resources, limited parts.
MARX: But that same simplicity may now be part of the problem. British defense officials say the Land Rover fleet, with some vehicles now decades old, is increasingly expensive to maintain and lacks the protection and technology today's battlefield requires. The army is phasing Land Rovers out in favor of newer vehicles with advanced armor, digital systems and greater firepower.
Still, for many soldiers and fans, the retirement marks the end of a distinctive chapter, a vehicle that became synonymous with British forces from deserts to disaster zones, as well as British royalty, including Queen Elizabeth II, a longtime user of the Land Rover. After more than seven decades in service, the Land Rover's time on the front line is coming to a close. But its legacy as one of the most enduring military vehicles ever built will likely last much longer. For NPR News, I'm Willem Marx.
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