UK Manufacturer of
Military & Defence services
Based in Chard, Somerset, RED Winches partners with UK and international military vehicle manufacturers to engineer MIL-SPEC custom winching systems and STANAG-compliant automotive components. Our UK-manufactured solutions integrate seamlessly into modern defence platforms, ensuring mission-readiness and reliability in the world's most demanding combat environments.
Military services working with red winches
Based in Chard, Somerset, RED Winches partners with UK and international military vehicle manufacturers to engineer MIL-SPEC custom winching systems and STANAG-compliant automotive components. Our UK-manufactured solutions integrate seamlessly into modern defence platforms, ensuring mission-readiness and reliability in the world's most demanding combat environments.
British Engineering. Combat Proven. Sovereign Resilience
RED Winches specialises in the design and UK-manufacture of MIL-SPEC recovery systems. Engineered in Somerset for global deployment, our systems provide the reliability and integration ease required for modern land platforms. From tactical recovery to armoured logistics, we deliver UK-made performance for the world’s most demanding environments.
At RED Winches, we understand that recovery systems are a single point of failure in the field. Our MIL-SPEC winches are trusted by global defence suppliers for their ruggedised performance and resilient architecture. From modular drive units to corrosion-resistant finishes, every component is designed to exceed military-grade specifications, ensuring maximum vehicle availability and mission success.
Scalable Recovery Solutions
for Global Land Platforms.
RED Winches partners with global defence contractors to deliver field-proven systems adaptable to any chassis—from lightweight tactical vehicles to heavy logistics platforms.
Working with Supacat
Supacat, is a Devon-based company co-founded in 1980 by Nick Jones and his then-business partner, David Clayton. Nick Jones continues to play a pivotal role even after four decades.
In 2007, an Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) was signed for vehicles to support the British Army in Afghanistan, which led to the introduction of the High Mobility Transporter Vehicle (HMTV) into the Green Army, named the Jackal and Coyote by British Soldiers.
It’s at this point in the Supacat vehicle development that RED Winches were invited in and began to support. We were replacing a winch that could not operate and perform as needed to match the capabilities of the Supacat vehicle platforms. RED Winches always looks to innovate and apply its engineering designs to improve situations.
Following a required 12 months of intense winch development for their Jackal and Coyote vehicles, RED Winches became the winch of choice for these vehicles.
Developing, manufacturing and supporting the needs of any product the military uses, requires a high level of precision, process and quality design.
RED Winches has also been supporting Supacat in Australia, and celebrated their tenth anniversary in 2022. They proudly serve the Asia Pacific defence sector.
Over the last twenty years, Supacat’s engineering expertise has secured contracts outside of defence to manufacture all-terrain platforms for civilian applications, including the RNLI Shannon Lifeboat Launch and Recovery System (L&RS).
As of 2024, Supacat is on the third iteration of the Jackal and is currently manufacturing 70 vehicles for the British Army.
All of us at RED Winches are very proud to be supporting them with both the hydraulic winch and all their recovery equipment needs, which ultimately is supporting our very own British Troops around the world.
Partnering with Babcock
Our collaboration with Supacat also brings us close to Babcock.
Babcock established a new production facility in Devonport for the Land Mobility Programme as an example of the Land Industrial Strategy in action.
Babcock launched their GLV through collaboration with established quality British engineering SMEs such as TEK Military Seating, Safety Devices International Ltd and ourselves as Red Winches.
This collaboration has created a very capable and well-engineered vehicle platform
Building on this collaboration success, Babcock also announced that they will be building a series hybrid variant of the Babcock GLV with Electrogenic using Cosworth pioneering 'Cat Gen'.
Red Winches is always proud to be supporting programmes like this, that serve our military and other armed forces around the world.
Beyond the Winch: Advanced Recovery Rigging
Tactical Rigging & Kinetic Recovery Systems Body
A recovery system is a chain of critical components. RED Winches provides a comprehensive suite of military-grade rigging hardware designed to maximise the performance of your winch while ensuring operator safety in high-stress environments.
Synthetic Ropes
High-strength, low-elongation synthetic lines that offer an 85% weight saving over steel wire. Our ropes are UV-stabilized and heat-resistant for global deployment.
Military-Grade Soft Shackles
Replacing heavy D-shackles with lightweight, high-tensile HMPE loops. These reduce the "missile risk" during a failure and allow for rapid, tool-free rigging.
No-Friction Snatch Blocks & Force Multipliers
Precision-engineered pulleys that allow for 2:1 to 5:1 mechanical advantage, enabling smaller vehicles to recover significantly heavier assets without overloading the drivetrain.
Load-Rated Recovery Straps
Kinetic energy recovery (KER) ropes designed to absorb and redistribute shock loads, protecting the vehicle chassis during dynamic recoveries.
Total Traceability
Quality Assured as Standard
Every component we supply—from our high-performance winches to our tactical rigging hardware—is delivered with full technical accountability. We understand that in a military supply chain, the 'Data' is as important as the 'Hardware.'
Certificates of Conformity (CofC)
All products are supplied with a formal CofC as standard, verifying that the equipment meets our stringent internal specifications and the required MIL-SPEC or STANAG benchmarks.
Serialised Batch Labeling
Our recovery equipment features durable, high-visibility labeling. Each unit is individually serialised or batch-coded, allowing for immediate identification, safety inspections, and lifecycle tracking.
Batch Testing to Destruction
To ensure the integrity of our synthetic ropes and soft shackles, we perform regular destructive testing on production batches, ensuring that the Minimum Breaking Strength (MBS) is consistently verified.
Request for Information Support.
Don't leave mission readiness to chance. Partner with the UK’s leading specialists in combat-proven winching systems to ensure your next vehicle platform is supported for its entire lifecycle.
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