Take a Land Cruiser to war?

[jerome5tousand]

I have been out at JMRC in Hohenfels Germany for a couple of weeks. It's a big military training area in Europe for NATO nations. The exercise we are part of right now includes troops from Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and the U.S.

The different vehicles each military utilize vary from the iconic HMMWV to some fairly wild things that look like a Jim Henson muppet creation after its all camouflaged .

But what has caught my eye is the number of Land Cruisers running around here. This one I snapped of a quick pic of, has bullet proof glass, a bunch electronics in it, and some sort of antenna pod on the roof. Im not sure which country uses this one, but I saw the Lithuanians using some extremely well outfitted LC200's in Afghanistan.

Sorry for the pic quality. It was dark and the internet here is slow.

 

[Drover]

This is my favorite LC war pic


That's actually my screen saver

 

[dddonkey]

I drove diesel 5 speed manual TLC on my last tour in Afghanistan, they were a dog with all the extra weight but great in the snow. I my self preferred the g wagons.

 

[jerome5tousand]

I drove diesel 5 speed manual TLC on my last tour in Afghanistan, they were a dog with all the extra weight but great in the snow. I my self preferred the g wagons.

Yep, seen plenty of them around here too.

 

[cavboy78]

I've spent the greater part of the last decade in Iraq and Afghanistan and that is all that folks drive around here. This includes US and other NATO militaries, as well as Afghans. It wasn't until Iraq in 2003 that I really became a fan of the TLC (currently own an FZJ80) and realized what a well-built and capable platform it is. I am currently in Afghanistan and I could walk outside now and snap pictures of dozens of 70 series, 80, 100 and 200 series...a lot of them up-armored, all them diesels and manuals (not sure on the 200s). Next time I get a chance, I'll upload some pics. Not too many Land Rovers except for a handful of old Defenders, FWIW.

I will say this...Afghanistan is really winding down/shrinking the footprint right now as we transition to Resolute Support. I am not sure who owns/or leases all these TLCs (I'm assuming DOD) driving around here, but it would be great to see some of these put into containers and sent to the US!

Matt

 

[reldred]

Work colleague of mine who in a previous life spent some time over there reckoned he did everything out of a Hilux or a LC. Some armored, some not so much.

 

[TLC Norway]

That white one is from here in Northern Norway. Its a 105, on 35s, i seem to remember it has the 1hd engine, at least no turbo.
pretty common sight around the two army bases around here.
And they are built by Arctictrucks.com in south of Norway.

 

[CYK]

Nice!

 

[mep1811]

I wrote and posted a bunch of pictures of col Land Cruiser and other vehicles I spotted while in AFG.

http://badlandsexpeditions.wordpres...-cool-vehicles-ive-seen-while-in-afghanistan/

 

[jerome5tousand]

mep1811 some of those spots look familiar. And those Arctic trucks are the same one I saw in RC-S.

 

[mep1811]

Yes they were on KAF in 2013 and I saw them again at KIAI in 2014.

 

[ColoradoMax]

I had two armored 200-series Cruisers (4.5 turbo diesel) when I was in AFG last year. They were good for runs through areas (RC-E) that had low levels of kinetic activity, and were mostly comfortable.

The armored plates required some interesting interior modifications, and played hell with the keyless start. Most armored SUVs are difficult to fight from, so they stayed home if 'trouble' was expected. I would prefer to have a diesel 200 in a place that didn't require armor or run-flat tires.

 

[mep1811]

There were all sorts of different variants Of Cruisers. Some had gun ports in the windows and a hatch a machine gunner could come out of. yes the armor played havoc with the key-less function . I'd hate to have to try to get in a vehicle under duress with that feature. Also ECM caused issues. had some posted pictures a while back of the same Cruisers on the forum. Of course some armchair commando starts lecturing me about OPSEC and Classified and jeopardizing lives. Too funny.

 

[ColoradoMax]

I think if they had a traditional ignition switch, and doors that would stay open, the 200s would have seen more use.

They ALWAYS went on PX/Green Bean runs, though.

 

[mep1811]

Land Cuiser

Saw this in Kurdistan in 2005.