The Warrior tracked vehicle family is a series of British armoured vehicles, originally developed to replace FV430 series armoured vehicles. The Warrior started life as the MCV-80, "Mechanised Combat Vehicle for the 1980s". One of the requirements of the new vehicle was a top speed able to keep up with the projected new MBT, the MBT-80 later cancelled and replaced by what became the Challenger 1 which the FV432 armoured personnel carrier could not. The project was begun in 1972; GKN Defence won the production contract in 1984 and the Warrior was accepted for service with the British Army in November 1984. Production commenced in January 1986 at Telford, with the first vehicles completed in December that year. GKN Defence was purchased by BAE Systems, via Alvis plc. The first production vehicle was handed over to the British Army in May 1987 to 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards and from 1988 to 1990 four more armoured infantry battalions in the British Army of the Rhine were converted to the new vehicle. A total of 789 FV510 and variants were manufactured for the British Army and 254 of a modified version (Desert Warrior) were produced for the Kuwaiti Army. Description The Warrior incorporates several design features in keeping with the UK's battlefield experience. In particular, there are no firing ports in the hull, in line with British thinking that the role of the armoured personnel carrier/infantry fighting vehicle (APC/IFV) is to carry troops under protection to the objective and then give firepower support when they have disembarked. The absence of firing ports also allows appliqué armour to be fitted to the sides of the vehicle, which is invariably applied to Warriors on operations. The cage armour used at one stage was replaced in 2007 by "Wrap Two" appliqué armour. The basic armour provides all-around protection against small arms ball ammunition. The crew of a Warrior comprises the driver, seated in the front hull and the gunner and commander in the turret. The embarked infantry section can number up to seven soldiers, who are seated facing each other in the rear hull compartment. Passenger access is through an electric ram powered door at the rear of the hull, rather than a drop-down ramp as in the US M113 APC and M2 Bradley IFV. Warrior Section Vehicles are able to carry seven fully equipped soldiers together with supplies and weapons, including a number of