Jaguar Land Rover opens new defence unit to sell military Defenders to NATO

JLR competes with GM and Ineos for £900m UK military vehicle contract

Jaguar Land Rover has opened a new defence division and is in talks with NATO countries about supplying the revamped Defender Wolf Series II military vehicle, the UK-based automaker said, as European defence spending surges. The company is also bidding for a £900 million UK Ministry of Defence contract to replace an ageing fleet of Land Rovers out of production since 2016, competing against General Motors and Britain’s Ineos.

JLR, owned by India’s Tata Motors, unveiled three variants of the next-generation military 4x4 as it established a dedicated division to court defence customers globally. Defender managing director Patrick McGillycuddy said the vehicles are designed and engineered in the UK, with an engine built in Wolverhampton.

“Through our newly established Defender defence division, we will offer Defender Wolf Series II to defence organisations worldwide, while also bidding for the UK Ministry of Defence light mobility vehicle tender,” McGillycuddy said.

The Defender Wolf Series II is built on a lightweight aluminium monocoque with a stiffer body structure, McGillycuddy said, which can be adapted to “the wide range of roles and operational requirements demanded by military organisations.” He described the vehicles as “exceptionally robust and versatile” and a “modern successor to the world-famous Defender Wolf and Land Rovers that have served the British armed forces for more than 70 years.”

JLR pushed back against linking the defence expansion to its planned 4,000 global job cuts, part of a £1.7 billion cost-savings drive. The company blamed weak demand, tariffs imposed under US President Donald Trump, and the aftermath of a damaging cyber-attack the previous year. According to the company, the new defence division’s formation is unrelated to the layoffs. The Financial Times first reported JLR’s defence talks.

Separately, JLR plans to enter the $80 billion (£59 billion) US pickup truck market with a localised Defender variant built in the United States through a joint venture with Stellantis, the Sunday Times reported at the weekend.

The push into defence vehicles makes JLR the most high-profile UK carmaker to pivot into the sector, as legacy manufacturers contend with the transition to electric vehicles and increasing competition from Chinese rivals. Last week, Volkswagen agreed to sell its Osnabrück factory to Israel’s Aurelius Capital and the German state of Lower Saxony, VW’s second-biggest shareholder, in a deal labour officials said could preserve about 1,400 of the site’s 1,800 jobs. The site would shift from car production to heavy-duty trucks carrying anti-missile systems for the maker of Israel’s Iron Dome, Arrow and David’s Sling air and missile defence systems.

Volkswagen said the plans involve “the potential manufacture of systems and components for air defence systems for Germany and Europe,” adding that the cooperation could pave the way for further such deals. In France, Renault is repurposing part of its Le Mans chassis plant in western France to produce up to 600 drones a month for the French defence ministry.