Unveiled by the company earlier this week, Supacat has delivered the SPV400 to the British Defense Ministry for detailed testing alongside machines from two other suppliers in hopes of replacing the Snatch Land Rover with a better protected vehicle.

The SPV Series is the next generation design from Supacat, intended to boost what the company calls its successful range of "high-mobility vehicles." These include the Jackal and Coyote, which are currently being used by British forces deployed in Afghanistan.

"The SPV400 is a superb achievement by Supacat's innovative engineering team here in the U.K.," said Nick Ames, managing director of Supacat. "Its clean sheet design offers an upgradeable solution for 21st century operations and takes the performance of lightweight protected mobility platforms to new levels, making it the vehicle to beat in the international markets we see for this class of vehicle."

The trial tests, at Millbrook Proving Ground, are scheduling to kick off as early as next week ahead of a possible urgent operational requirement order of, initially, up to 400 vehicles for British troops in Afghanistan.

It is believed that their dispatch could forge the way for other orders from the British military.

"The SPV design combines a fully integrated protection system with a cutting-edge automotive solution with supreme cross country performance and the agility to operate in tight urban environments," a company statement said.

"The protection system is fully integrated and comprises a V-shaped hull to provide mine blast protection and a composite crew 'pod' to provide both blast and ballistic protection."

The protection system has been developed with NP Aerospace and the system features mine blast seats and configurable ballistic armor to meet specific operational threats.

The SPV400 prototype is competing against the new Ocelot vehicle design from Force Protection Europe and Ricardo Specialist Vehicles.

Another team short-listed by the Ministry of Defense for the trials failed to provide vehicles after prime contractor Babcock withdrew at the last moment, according to reports.

"Babcock said the Zephyr vehicle provided by design partner Creation UK needed more work to achieve survivability and maturity goals," Defense News reported.

The British army is said to be scouting for a vehicle of about 7.5 metric tons and more than 2 meters wide to replace the Snatch Land Rover, discredited by media, politicians and pundits for a number of roadside bombing deaths in Afghanistan.

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