ROYAL Marines will get a beefed-up battlefield patrol vehicle for deployments from next year after Whitehall placed a £30m contract.

An armed Land Rover, known as a WMIK (Weapon Mounted Installation Kit), has served the green berets well – most notably in Afghanistan.

But senior commanders are keen to bolster the troops’ mobility and firepower – and protection.

The result is the MWMIK (the extra ‘m’ stands for ‘mobility’) and 130 have been ordered for Britain’s armed forces in a £30m deal signed between the MOD and Plymouth-based DML.

The new vehicles, based on a design by Supacat Ltd, can carry three troops and race around at speeds of up to 80mph. Firepower comes in the shape of a .50 calibre machine-gun or grenade launcher and GPMG.

Troops who have tested the prototype versions have described the MWMIK as “like a Land Rover on steroids”.

“These vehicles are well armed, swift, and agile. They will boost our capability with some serious firepower. MoD and the Treasury have worked hard to get these powerful vehicles to our troops in quick time, and they will start going out to theatre early next year,” said Lord Drayson, Minister for Defence Equipment and Support.

The vehicles will be assembled at DML’s workshops in Devonport naval base. Universal Engineering Ltd will manufacture the chassis, Cummings the engine, and Allison the transmission.