The British Army Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle

The Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle is in widespread use with various Commanders, Sergeant Majors, and Liaison Officers for Armoured, Armoured Recce and Armoured Infantry Units within the British Army. Panther will also be used as the Commander’s vehicle for Engineer Troops, Anti-Tank, Mortar and supporting fire platoons. It is also used to rebroadcast on Battlegroup nets and by Regimental Signal Officers.

The PCLV is a British BAE modified Licence built Italian IVECO Light Multirole Vehicle AKA LMV. Built at the famous Newcastle upon Tyne BAE facility, the first procurement contract was signed in November 2003 for an initial 401 vehicles.

iveco panther
The British Army Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle

Production began in 2006 and has been set to replace existing variants of the tracked CVR(T) family  under a £160 million contract.

The vehicle also has entered service with the Royal Air Force Regiment currently in service in Afghanistan, who work to counter ground-based threats to the RAF and has been used in raids against Taliban/Al-Qadir IED/bomb manufacturing facilities near RAF bases, with great success.

The British Army Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle is built of an unspecified alloy with modular armour sections containing unspecified materials, which providing protection against threats set out in STANAG 4569 and has a V-Shape hull to deflect IED blasts. The contents of the modules can be replaced.

The internal features of the cabin further reduce residual and secondary mine explosion effects on the crew. There are two adjustable anti-mine front seats (driver and commander) and three foldable anti-mine back seats. The seats are suspended and not fixed directly to the floor which avoids direct transmission of the shockwave to the crew. The air-conditioned and heated cabin is fitted with a high-resistance roll bar.

The vehicle is packed with the British Armies latest BOWMAN communications suite – the Platform Battlefield Information System Application (PBISA) from General Dynamics UK and provides the  highest level of situational awareness currently available.

It operates a program called Combat, which displays a digital battlefield map known as “Situational Awareness” displaying other British Army vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank thanks to the new BOWMAN’s GPS receiver, which also provides live updates as British Army Vehicles are on the move and allows other British Army vehicle commanders to send e-mails between each other and send instant Contact Reports back to HQ.

Panther is armed with a 7.62mm L7 general purpose machine gun mounted in a Remote Weapon Station and day/night thermal sight. The RWS can be upgraded to a 12.7 mm (.50cal) MG if required.

The British Army Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle Spec’s

Weight – 6.5 tons
Length – 5.5m
Width – 2.05m
Height – 1.950m
Crew – 2 + 2 troops
Engine – IVECO F1D Common Rail EURO 3 182hp
Payload capacity – 1.2ton
Transmission – 6 speed automatic
Suspension – Independent, Double A-Arm
Ground clearance – 4.073m
Operational range – 500km
Speed – 130 km/h (81 mph)