Author: UK Emergency Vehicles

This DAF truck is used by the Royal Air Force as a Bomb Disposal vehicle. In the same way as Royal Logistics' vehicles, the bomb disposal signs can be hidden to disguise the identity and use of the vehicle. It is fitted with blue flashing lights on the front, sides and front and rear of the roof. The rear view of the RAF bomb disposal vehicle. These vehicles often have to travel long distances on blue lights and they are dispersed thinly across the country and used relatively infrequently.

This photograph shows the rear of a Royal Navy Bomb Disposal Mercedes Sprinter van. It carries police-style battenburg markings and two full-width light bars on the roof. Fold-out plates can be seen which display warning markers when the vehicle is carrying dangerous items.

This is a Mercedes Benz Sprinter conversion that is used by the Met Police in London. It is part of SO15, the Counter Terrorism Command, and is used for ordnance disposal work. The Met police are the only force in the UK to have their own bomb disposal teams. Y447 HGU The rear view of an identical but older Sprinter. You can see the roof-mounted antennae and rear-facing blue light bar. The right-hand door actually folds down and is a ramp (see inset). This allows the remote-controlled robot to be readily deployed.

40 RN 50 is a Pinzgauer 6-wheeled truck that the Royal Navy use for bomb disposal work. It is decked out with blue flashing lights and has a side-stripe of blue and yellow checkers. The rear view of the same vehicle. Notice the lockers on the sides and the very small rear access door. Fold-down orange signs indicate when the vehicle is carrying anything dangerous.

A pair of bomb disposal Honda ST1100 Pan Europeans. They carry a simple colour scheme and do not have any writing or crests on them. This is to help stop the public panicking and to help avoid them becoming a target themselves. Notice that one bike has LED lights on the front whereas the other has halogens. The rear view of the pair of Honda motorbikes showing the high visibility stripes and red flashing lights.

39 RN 88 This Pinzgauer 6x6 is a Royal Navy bomb disposal truck. It has four blue lights on the front, as well as additional spot lamps. On the roof is an upturned rigid inflatable boat. It has a front-mounted winch and 'flip-down' signs on all sides to indicate when it is carrying explosives. A supporting RN Land Rover can be seen behind.

This DAF LF 45.220 truck has blue lights and a yellow stripe, but no other markings. Notice how the front registration plate has been moved up onto the bonnet and has two small blue lights to either side of it. The rear view of the same 2004 truck. It has fold-down signs on the sides and back to reveal its use - Royal Logistics Corps Bomb Disposal. A piece of white plastic also hides wording on the front. This is the same vehicle with the signs in the downward position, revealing its use.

This is an older 1998 Leyland DAF in the RLC markings. It has blue lights and a siren mounted on top of the cab, as well as blues on the front. A ladder permits access to the roof. The rear view, showing a blue light in each corner. The back also has a slightly different stripe - the border colour is red, not blue. These vehicles are used for carrying bomb disposal equipment for EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) emergencies.

This Royal Air Force bomb disposal unit is a Leyland DAF truck. Notice the grilles on roof-mounted blue lights and siren. Due to the severity of bomb incidents, the RAF are permitted to use blue lights and sirens. Usually only seen on TV news programmes, these bomb disposal units are very few in number and it is not unusual for them to travel for over an hour to get to an incident scene. In the back of the truck is a large array of equipment, including a robot. Probably the oddest emergency vehicle on UKev, this robot can remotely pick up and move objects without risking human life. On-board cameras ensure the operators can see exactly what it is doing.

This is a RAF bomb disposal Scimitar CVR(T) armoured personnel carrier (tank). The CVR(T) stands for Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked). It has a top speed of 70 mph on tarmac and is powered by a Jaguar V12 engine. This is used to protect the lives of the disposal experts as they deal with unexploded munitions dropped onto an airfield from a safe distance. It carries its own military registration plate. Another view of the Leyland bomb disposal truck. The Met have 4 full time bomb disposal officers all civilians with the honorary rank of Superintendent and all are ex army bomb disposal officers. They all have police officers as drivers and have a fleet of 3 specially equipped Range Rovers which they use as rapid response vehicles. They also have several other specialist vehicles including 2 adapted Mercedes Sprinter box vans which they use to transport their "wheelbarrow" remote control bomb disposal machines. They are based at a Central London Location (not the yard) and respond to all suspect packages / devices around the Met. The only time the army are used in the Met area is when any WW2 ordnance is found where it takes a long time to deal with and the police bomb disposal units would be tied up for too long reducing their ability to respond to other incidents.

This is a picture of a Royal Navy EOD Land Rover. It is based at Faslane, Scotland and is part of the Northern Diving Group Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team. This is the new livery, previously the colour was blue. The pictures were taken on a beach in Cumbria whilst the team were dealing with an item which had been discovered by the local Coastguard. A second view of the RN Land Rover.