What does the army use them for?

Snatch Land Rovers are officially categorised as Protected Patrol Vehicles.They are used in peacekeeping missions and other operations where troops need quick land transport. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said tanks are often too big and too slow, cumbersome and likely to annoy civilian populations. The Land Rovers are fortified with armour to offer the troops protection against explosions and ballistics. And they also have electronic counter-measures (ECMs) - designed to detect roadside bombs before they explode. Their use became widespread in Northern Ireland as a cheap and speedy way of transporting troops during the Troubles.

Why are they controversial?

A number of incidents in Afghanistan and Iraq have raised concerns about the safety of the Land Rovers. The thin-skinned vehicles are designed to withstand small arms fire, but have been criticised for offering insufficient protection against roadside bombs. In the past five years, more than 30 UK soldiers have been killed in the lightly-armoured vehicles in Afghanistan, where roadside bombs now account for almost 60% of coalition deaths. Concerns over the vehicles have been raised by MPs, military personnel and the families of dead soldiers. Rose Gentle, whose 19-year-old son Gordon was killed by a roadside bomb in Basra in June 2004, has become a vocal critic of the Land Rovers. A coroner ruled it was probable the bomb would not have detonated had an electronic detection device designed to protect troops against roadside attacks been fitted to the Land Rover. The equipment had been available but was left in a store under a mile away because of a clerical error.

Roger Bacon, whose son Matthew was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq in September 2005, claimed the Land Rovers had not given his son enough protection. Sue Smith, mother of Pte Phillip Hewett, 21, one of three soldiers killed in Iraq in 2005 when their Land Rover was hit by a roadside bomb, said lightly-armoured vehicles were putting soldiers' lives at risk. She recently launched a damages action against the MoD that alleged "failures" over the use of the vehicles. In 2006, the Defence Secretary Des Browne ordered a review of the Land Rovers, which had increasingly become known as "soft targets". But the month-long review concluded the vehicles provided the best mobility for the difficult terrain of Iraq and Afghanistan. In December 2007, Mr Browne met with some of the families, including Mr Bacon, who called for the vehicles to be removed from action. The vehicles hit the headlines again when Corporal Sarah Bryant, the first British woman killed on duty in Afghanistan, and three male SAS reservists died on 17 June when their Land Rover was destroyed by a landmine.

What are replacing them?

At the end of October, the government announced a £700m investment in more than 700 vehicles which will offer British troops greater protection than they have now. As part of the programme, Snatch Land Rovers will be upgraded to a new type called the Snatch Vixen which possesses more power and provides better protection. The MoD says the Vixen has been especially configured for Afghanistan, and will offer the "highest levels of protection for its size and weight class". It says a small number of Vixens have already been fielded in the country. The MoD said a range of armoured vehicles, from the heavily-armoured Mastiff to the more agile Jackal, are now available and it was already reducing the Snatch Land Rover's patrolling roles. Defence Secretary John Hutton defended the continued use of the Snatch, saying the availability of the high-mobility and low-profile vehicle was considered "mission critical" by the military.

"We cannot make Snatch invulnerable - any vehicle can be overmatched if faced with an overwhelming attack," he said. "But these modifications mean that Snatch Vixen will offer the highest levels of protection for its size and weight class." The government hopes they will be in frontline use by the end of 2010. Other possible replacements had been put forward in the past. US forces use Humvee vehicles, but these have come in for similar criticism to the Land Rovers and are thought to be susceptible to roadside bombs and grenades. The RG31 vehicle used by the South African army had also been touted as a possible but it is designed to protect against landmines.

Source: BBC News