Defender’s Wolf and Ford’s F-250 Are Taking Civilian Vehicles Into the Military
Defender has unveiled the Wolf Series II, a new light mobility vehicle designed for military and other demanding applications. The model is built on Defender's D7x architecture and uses a monocoque body, marking the brand's first military vehicle launch since the original Defender Wolf, which served the British Armed Forces for decades.
The Wolf Series II is set to enter the UK Ministry of Defence's Light Mobility Vehicle tender process. Alongside the launch, JLR has created a dedicated Defender Defence Division to work with defence organisations and develop vehicles around their specific operational needs.
Defender says the new vehicle underwent an extensive development program, completing more than 62,000 tests before receiving engineering sign-off. Its body and chassis were also designed to withstand JLR's Extreme Event Test procedure.
The D7x architecture has a torsional rigidity of 29 kNm/degree, making it three times more rigid than traditional body-on-frame designs. The model joins Defender's existing expert portfolio, which is already used by the military, police, border force, and emergency services around the world. The vehicle has also covered millions of kilometres in environments ranging from 50-degree desert heat to sub-40-degree Arctic cold and altitudes of up to 10,000 feet.
Four versions of the Wolf Series II are scheduled to be shown at the British Army DVD 2026 event at Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire on September 16-17. The lineup will include a tactical mobility vehicle, general mobility vehicle, ambulance, and utility variant, giving defence and emergency organisations several configurations for different operational requirements.
Ford's F-250 Prototype Hunted Drones in U.S. Army Test
In other news related to a civilian vehicle being pitched for defense use, Ford's F-250 pickup truck was spotted undergoing U.S. Army testing with a weapon system designed to take down drones.
MotorBiscuit recently reported on the test, where three Ford Super Duty prototypes, developed under a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense, were undergoing testing by Next Gen Defense at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The trucks are being evaluated as potential candidates for the Army's next tactical vehicle, and they come with some notable features.
Although unconventional, testing included a live-fire exercise. The reconfigured Ford F-250 combined Forterra's AutoDrive autonomous driving system with the Edda counter-drone turret developed by Austin-based defense company 9 Mothers, adding an extra layer of protection by using acoustic sensors to detect incoming drones before switching to visual tracking for targeting.
The capability was demonstrated during Project Sandhills 2.0, a U.S. Army initiative focused on moving autonomous breaching and terrain-shaping technology beyond the prototype stage and toward systems that could eventually be deployed in the field.
Beyond its latest military vehicle efforts, Ford is not new to defense work. The automaker has supplied military equipment for more than a century, dating back to World War I, when it produced Model T-based ambulances, trucks, tractors, and aircraft engines for the Allied war effort.
