Sharing the same name and common spirit of inner strength and adventure, Land Rover Defender has forms an affiliation with the new Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender. Based on this, the company provided a Defender for the destroyer’s use whilst on dry land.
This affiliation is also relevant given the Defender’s glorious military history including years of service in the SAS. While these vehicle are quite close spiritually, physically they are worlds apart. The HMS Defender is built at the Govan shipyard on the River Clyde in Scotland, and the Land Rover Defender at the Land Rover plant in Solihull. The former is designed to take on wild waters, and the latter to take on rough ground.
HMS Defender and Land Rover Defender – key facts
| HMS Defender Type 45 Destroyer | ||
| Heritage | Fifth Royal Navy ship of this name since 1797 | |
| Displacement/weight | 8,000 tonnes | |
| Complement/accommodation | 190 personnel | |
| Length | 152m | |
| Beam/width | 21.2m | |
| Height | ||
| Draught/wading depth | 5.3m | |
| Max. speed | 30+ knots | |
| Range | 7,000 nautical miles | |
| Weaponry | Medium calibre guns and weapon systems, short range machine guns, Sea Viper missile system and Lynx helicopter weapons systems |
