Ford confirmed on 2 September that it will compete for the UK Ministry of Defence’s Light Mobility Vehicle programme, partnering with General Dynamics Land Systems UK and British engineering group Ricardo to pitch upfitted Ranger and Ranger Super Duty pick-ups as replacements for the British Army’s ageing Land Rover and Pinzgauer fleet. Ford Europe President Jim Baumbick said the partnership offers “not just an off-the-shelf vehicle, but a true through-life solution.”

Competition for the UK contract is already heated, and the field has grown quickly. General Motors has partnered with BAE Systems and NP Aerospace, INEOS Automotive has formed a consortium with SMT Defence and NMS UK, Jaguar Land Rover is exploring its own military partnerships, and defence group Babcock International has developed a rival vehicle based on the Toyota Land Cruiser LC70. Ford could build the military variant’s engine at its Dagenham plant, leaning on the scale of its existing European aftersales network and UK supply chain.

The UK bid extends a much larger defence push Ford began hinting at in April, when it entered competition for a separate US Army contract to develop prototypes based on its F-Series Super Duty pickup, aimed at a 606-vehicle Infantry Squad Vehicle-Heavy requirement designed to replace the Humvee. The Army’s specification calls for a platform carrying a six-soldier squad and supplying up to 60 kW of exportable power, a requirement which opens the competition to modified commercial pick-ups rather than purpose-built military hardware.

Ford enters that US competition well behind General Motors, whose defence unit has operated since 2017 and already supplies roughly 1,200 standard Infantry Squad Vehicles to the Army against procurement objectives running to 10,000 more. GM Chief Executive Mary Barra noted in August that the company’s defence unit expects to win more than US$1bn in contracts and bring roughly US$700m in revenue during 2026. Ford has no comparable defence subsidiary, no disclosed revenue target for the segment, and only named a chief government affairs officer this August.

Modified versions of Ford’s Super Duty are being shopped out to the UK Ministry of Defence

Ford’s own power-generation pitch carries a complication. Exportable power is central to what the Army is buying, and that capability comes from hybrid and battery-electric drivetrains specifically. In late 2025, Ford discontinued the F-150 Lightning, its highest-output electrified pick-up, as part of restructuring that carried a US$19.5bn impairment on electrification investments. How Ford intends to reach military-grade power output from a Super Duty base built primarily around internal combustion engines has not been disclosed. 

New US national security rules add a further constraint neither company can simply engineer around. An executive order signed by President Donald Trump in July limits defence contractors from securing waivers to source critical minerals, rare earths and components from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, with the policy taking effect at the start of 2027. This could cause chaos for automakers working on defence contracts, given how difficult it is to identify and replace adversarial-nation sourcing on short notice, particularly for the most advanced electronics and battery technology.

Defence contracting is emerging as a genuine second business line for automakers carrying underused factory capacity, with Daimler Truck targeting €1bn (US$1.15bn) in defence revenue by 2028 and GM Defense already profitable at scale. Ford’s position illustrates how differently that transition is unfolding across companies. 

The automaker is entering years behind GM, with a product gap in its own most capable powertrain and no dedicated subsidiary to coordinate the effort. Its simultaneous pursuit of UK and US military contracts, without disclosing a value or timeline for either, suggests the company is treating defence work as a hedge worth exploring rather than a committed strategy on the scale GM or Daimler Truck have already built.