Coyote / Jackal 2 Tactical Support Vehicles

The Coyote 6×6 tactical support vehicle (TSV) and the Jackal 2 4×4 high mobility carrier are in service with the British Army. The vehicles are part of a family of vehicles designed and developed by SC Group for the British armed forces.

400 TSVs were ordered in October 2008 as part of the $700m protected patrol vehicles package. The new TSVs are used to accompany patrols, and also to transport supplies such as ammunition and water.

The three types of vehicle include the Wolfhound – a heavy armoured support vehicle to support and supply the new Mastiff with heavy mine protection (force protection), the Husky – a medium armoured truck to carry out support in less threatened areas (Navistar Defense and Dytecna), and the Coyote – a light armoured support vehicle to support the new Jackal 2.

The Wolfhound TSV (heavy) and the Coyote TSV (light) were produced as one variant, which is a utility flatbed vehicle that is used to transport combat supplies. The Husky TSV (medium) was produced as three variants: utility vehicle, ambulance with enhanced protection and command post vehicle.

Orders and deliveries of Jackal 2 and Coyote tactical Support vehicles

In April 2008, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a contract to procure more than 100 Jackal vehicles (Jackal 2 build standard). The Jackal 2 and Coyote vehicles entered service in August 2009.

A contract worth £45m ($70.2m) was awarded by the UK government in May 2010 for 140 Jackal 2A vehicles, an updated version of Jackal 2.

In July 2020, the UK MoD announced that four Jackal 2 TSVs would be lent to Estonian Defense Forces until March 2021.

Jackal 2 tactical support vehicle weapons platform

The Jackal is a high-mobility weapons platform patrol and reconnaissance vehicle produced by Supacat of Honiton, which was responsible for the design and programme management, and also Babcock Marine subsidiary Devonport Management, which manufactured the vehicles at its Devonport facility.

Component suppliers include Allison (transmission), Cummins (engine), Frazer-Nash systems engineering consultancy and Universal Engineering (chassis).

The Jackal 2 has been designed to a high specification to protect personnel against roadside explosions and mine attack (the chassis on the new version is heavier to give additional protection but there is still room for improvement).

The vehicle also has a special air-bag suspension system that allows rapid movement of the vehicle across varying terrain.

The vehicle is an ideal platform for reconnaissance, rapid assault, fire support and convoy protection. The vehicle has a crew of two plus one and a range of 800km. General armament includes a 7.62mm general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) and either a .50-calibre heavy machine gun (HMG) or grenade machine gun (GMG) as the main weapon system. The gun ring weapons support on the new Jackal 2 has now been moved forward to give a 360° sweep of fire, whereas the field of fire on the original jackal was limited to rear fire. The 6,650kg vehicle is 5.39m long, 1.97m tall and 2.00m wide. The propulsion system for the Jackal 2 is a 6.7l diesel Cummins ISRe Euro 3 allowing a top speed of 80mph (129km/h) on paved roads and 55mph (89km/h) over rough terrain.

The blast protection and the small arms fire protection of the new Jackal 2 has been enhanced with new blast shields under the driver and navigator cockpit, which also have seats protected by side and back armour. Jackal 2 also has enhanced capability to carry additional fuel jerry cans and equipment bergens (backpacks) at the back of the vehicle.

The Jackal 2 can be converted to a 6×4 by the addition of an extended module with a further axle (the module fully integrates fuel and braking systems). This gives extra capacity but is only a halfway house compared to the purpose-built Coyote.

Coyote tactical support vehicle

The Coyote tactical support vehicle (TSV light) is based on the HMT 600 6×6 chassis from Supacat and is a larger derivative of the Jackal 2. The extra two wheels give a heavier vehicle approaching 10,500kg which will act in support of the Jackal 2 and allow transportation of supplies and equipment over similar terrain (the payload for supplies and equipment is 1.5t). The Coyote can carry an extra crew member than the Jackal 2, but offers similar protection systems, armament and propulsion.