History
Supacat ltd was founded in 1981 as a small engineering company, primarily to develop and manufacture the Supacat high mobility, low ground pressure vehicle, the brainchild of Nick Jones, co-founder of Supacat.
This machine was gradually developed through mark 1, 2 and 3 versions - testing, developing and refining the design to produce a vehicle providing unrivalled traction and maneuverability in difficult terrain. This vehicle was purchased by the U.K. Ministry of Defence as a high mobility platform, as they recognised that there just was not any other vehicle available that could do what the ‘cat could do.
During this period, Supacat developed and refined its considerable design and low-volume production abilities, as well as building up a wealth of experience in rigorous testing and development programmes on various projects, including glider winches, snowmobiles, a world land speed project for a diesel vehicle, support to the thrust 2 land speed project, and the start of a long association with the R.N.L.I. These test programmes have always been seen as a central part of Supacats development projects, vital to the creation of solid, reliable, and very mobile machinery, closely tailored to the customer’s requirements.
Supacat really capitalised on these unique abilities when it undertook the HMT development project. This showed great promise from the start, with the first prototype, 001, already capable of remarkable performance on all surfaces. We developed this very special concept to quickly reach the specification of the HMT 400. This design has undergone rigorous testing and development, to produce the tough, reliable, high mobility platform that we offer today. Early acceptance by a leading specialist military operator again gave official recognition and approval of the highest order. The 4x4 HMT has evolved into a range of concept and production vehicles, from 4x4, through 4x4/6x6 convertible chassis’, to 6x6, to even 8x6, with a huge variety of cabs, rear bodies and equipment to suit many different users.
As Supacat has grown, so have some of the projects, with the F.C.B. lifeboat launch vehicle capable of carrying a sixteen tonne lifeboat over some of the most difficult beaches in Europe, before wading into the sea to launch it, and recover it afterwards. We continue to explore and refine new ideas, as well as now offering full logistic support to the M.o.D. for vehicles such as the M.P.V. mine protected command post.
As for the future, keep watching, as there is plenty more to come.