Royal Naval Air Service personnel improvised an armoured Rolls-Royce for recovering downed airmen from no man's land. A machine gun and plate from a local shipyard added protection to a vehicle already being used for the work. Once more vehicles were needed, the manufacturer was asked to produce an armoured version with a turret and machine gun. Rolls-Royce supplied it and the service accepted it. The example defines off-the-shelf buying through a limited set of changes to existing equipment followed by delivery. Repeated additions and demands for locally sourced engines or armour are contrasted with that wartime approach.
Notable Point · 1:17:04-1:19:10
The RNAS armoured car as genuine off-the-shelf procurement
The Royal Naval Air Service turned an improvised Rolls-Royce rescue vehicle into a production armoured car by making a few direct changes to equipment already in use.