Ridgback tragedy as soldiers die in vehicle sent to protect them

The tragedy about the four soldiers dying in a Ridgback is that these £300,000 armoured vehicles were specifically introduced to help save their lives.

After a spate of deaths in the lightly-protected Snatch Land Rover, first in Iraq and then Afghanistan, the Ridgback - and its big sister, the Mastiff - were ordered by the Ministry of Defence as an "urgent operational requirement".

Based on the US military's Cougar, the 19-tonne, 55mph Ridgback has four wheels, the Mastiff six. Both are highly resistant to improvised explosive devices. UK defence ministers have spoken of the vehicles running over IEDs and requiring little more than a change of wheel and axle.

Some 177 Ridgbacks, which have a top speed of 55mph, been delivered to the Army and a further 20 are on order. The first arrived in Afghanistan last August. Yesterday's tragedy is thought to be the first incident of soldiers losing their lives in a Ridgback.

Troops enter and exit the vehicle via nine-inch thick double rear doors. A driver and commander sit in the front, with a gunner standing on a raised central platform, providing "top cover" and manning a machine gun. There are four flip-up seats in the back, with troops - who would have been in helmets and body armour - facing each other.

For those in the back, the only sight of the outside world is via a black-and-white split-screen TV monitor - the Ridgback is fitted with cameras at every angle - or a small bullet-proof glass block in a back door. Soldiers have enormous faith in them, believing that whatever they encounter, they will be safe if they can remain locked inside their Ridgback.