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All of the above reasons previously mentioned. Just because some government choose a particular vehicle, doesn't mean it's the best one for the job. I'm sure there is internal pressure from the government in choosing a vehicle for their own military. How would it look to choose a foreign vehicle over ones that your own country produces? Cost and availability probably have to be factored in too. I've heard that the reason Land Rovers were so poplular in Safari expeditions from a long time ago aren't neccessarily because they're great vehicles, but because there was no other option at the time.

Either way, I don't think I've ever heard the words "Land Rover" and "reliability" in the same sentence without some sort of laugh or degrading comment. But you can't ignore the obvious, they're consistently ranked last in reliability from almost every automotive source. All that negative publicity can't just be a rumor, there must be a least a little bit of truth behind it. It's just that for some people, reliability isn't very high on their list of priorities. Capability, looks, status, comfort, are all things Land Rovers excel at. For some, that's enough to outweigh the reliability aspect. Especially considering if you have enough money to buy a Land Rover in the first place, the cost of maintenance probably isn't a very big issue. IF I had the money, I wouldn't mind getting an older LR Defender.