Forward Control

The 101 Forward Control was a vehicle produced by Land Rover for the British Army.

The vehicle was primarily produced to meet the Army's requirement for a gun carriage, and was designed to tow a field gun with a ton of ammunition and other equipment in the rear load space, giving it the alternative name of the Land Rover One Ton. The vehicle was designed to be easily transported by air; the positioning of the 3.5 litre Rover V8 engine beneath and to the rear of the cab eliminating the bonnet at the front, making the vehicle more or less cuboid, eliminating unused space in transport aircraft.

The official name of 101 Forward Control is derived from the vehicle's 101 inch wheelbase, and the position of the driver, above and slightly in front of the front wheels which used a fairly large 9.00"×16" tyre. To cope with the extra height above the ground, the wheels feature an unusual feature; a flange around the centre of the wheel has a tread pattern embossed to allow the crew to enter the cab.

Development of the 101FC started in the late 60s, with production taking place between 1975 and 1978. As is common practice in the armed forces, many vehicles were not used for some years. It is not unheard of for military vehicle enthusiasts to pick up these vehicles after only a few thousand miles service. Initially, all the vehicles produced were soft top (rag top) gun tractors, although later on hard top ambulance bodies and radio vehicles were produced. A rare variant is the electronic warfare Vampire. Some 101s were produced with a PTO powered capstan winch mounted on the chassis at the centre of the vehicle, allowing winching from either the front of rear. Another variation on a small number of vehicles was the addition of a trailer driven from the PTO, creating a 6x6 vehicle.

A small number of 101s are still in use in the British armed forces, although for the most part they have been replaced with Defenders and Pinzgauer vehicles.

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