The Military Vehicles and Engineering Establishment (MVEE) was a British defence research unit on Chobham Lane, Chertsey in Surrey. It was responsible for many innovations in armoured vehicle design, including ceramic Chobham armour.

History

The Admiralty's Landships Committee was created in 1915 to oversee the development of what would become known as tanks. In the same year, the Design Department was set up at the

Royal Arsenal The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proofing, and explosives research for the Britis ...

, Woolwich. The Tank and Tracked Transport Experiment Establishment (TTTEE) was formed at

Farnborough Farnborough may refer to: Australia * Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone United Kingdom * Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England ** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...

in 1925, which in turn spawned the Mechanical Warfare Experimental Establishment (MWEE) in 1928. The MWEE was renamed the Mechanisation Experimental Establishment (MEE) in 1934 and in 1940 the MEE merged with elements of the Design Department at Woolwich to form the Department of Tank Design. In 1942 the DTD at Farnborough spawned the Fighting Vehicles Proving Establishment (FVPE), which moved to a new purpose-built camp in Chertsey on the site of the former RAF Chobham that was convenient for testing tanks on Chobham Heath. The Wheeled Vehicles Experimental Establishment (WVEE) was also formed out of the DTD in that year, and moved to Chertsey in 1943. In 1946 the DTD merged with WVEE to form the Fighting Vehicle Design Department (FVDD) at Chertsey alongside the FVPE. The FVDD was renamed the Fighting Vehicle Design Establishment (FVDE) in 1948. Four years later the FVPE and FVDE merged to create the Fighting Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (FVRDE). FVRDE and the

Military Experimental Engineering Establishment The Military Engineering Experimental Establishment (MEXE) was a British defence research unit. It was formed from the Experimental Bridging Establishment in 1946 and was amalgamated with the Fighting Vehicles Research and Development Establ ...

(MEXE) at Christchurch amalgamated in 1970 to form the Military Vehicles and Engineering Establishment (MVEE). In 1984-5 Chertsey became the Vehicles Department of the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment (RARDE) as the MVEE and the

Propellants, Explosives and Rocket Motor Establishment Propellants, Explosives and Rocket Motor Establishment, usually known for brevity as ''PERME'', operated at two sites: * Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills, known from 1977 as ''PERME Waltham Abbey'' * Rocket Propulsion Establishment established at ...

(PERME) based at Waltham Abbey and Westcott, merged with RARDE Fort Halstead. In the wake of the ending of the Cold War, RARDE merged with other research establishments in April 1991 to form the Defence Research Agency (DRA), an executive agency of the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. In turn, DRA became a division of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) in 1995. The Chertsey and Christchurch sites were among those allocated to Qinetiq when DERA was broken up in 2001 with the intention that Qinetiq would be privatised, which happened in 2006. Technologies such as electric armour were retained within the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl). The research staff at Chertsey were joined by the Vehicles Branch of the

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's for ...

(REME) in 1972, which became the Vehicles and Weapons Branch in 1982, the Army Technical Support Agency (ATSA) in 1995, and finally the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) Chertsey from 2000 until 2005. The DLO and its predecessors were responsible for the support and testing of all British Army vehicles. During the 1980s, vehicle testing was carried out by a sub-contracted company who provided drivers to test a range of military vehicles ascertaining a range of requirements from their ability to move over rough terrain through to their tipping point. Qinetiq sold the 315 acre Chertsey site to Crest Nicholson and Morley Fund Management (part of

CGNU Aviva plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It has about 18 million customers across its core markets of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. In the United Kingdom, Aviva is the largest general ...

) for redevelopment in November 2003. They submitted a plan for up to 113,434 square metres of development in 2005, which was later reduced. It now forms the backlot of Longcross Studios and has plans for redevelopment as residential.

References

{{coord , 51, 22, 54, N, 0, 35, 33, W, type:landmark_region:GB-SRY, display=title Military research establishments of the United Kingdom Science and technology in the United Kingdom Organisations based in Surrey Qinetiq Research institutes in Surrey