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The relationship between Fiat Group and Brazil has been strengthened further
with the announcement that the Brazilian Army and Iveco Latin America, have
signed a contract for the supply of 2,044 new armoured personnel carriers. The
VBTP-MR (Viatura Blindada de Transporte de Pessoal-Médio
de Rodas)
will replace the ageing EE-11 Urutu, the APC currently used by the Brazilian
Armed Forces. The contract is worth 6 billion reais (around 2.5 billion
euros) in over the contacts time span of 20 years.
Production of the first batch of vehicles is scheduled to
get underway in 2012 with deliveries set to be completed by
2030. The new armoured personnel carriers, including the
engines, will be built in Brazil, where Iveco will prepare a
new production zone, with the involvement in the production
chain of more than one hundred local suppliers out of the
hundreds of direct and indirect providers that will be
involved in this project.
The agreement was signed in a ceremony held at the
Headquarters of the Armed Forces in Brasilia, in the
presence of General Enzo Martins Peri, Brazilian Army
Commander, General Fernando Sergio Galvão, Chief of Staff
Army, the President of Iveco Latin America, Marco Mazzù, and
General Manager of Iveco Defense Vehicles, Pietro Borgo.
The project,
VBTP-MR, is part of Brazil's national defense strategy that includes the
reorganisation of the defence appropriations in the country to ensure that
requirements are supported by the Brazilian Army technologies. For the Brazilian
Army, the VBTP-MR project will increase the operation of its land forces,
improving activity in several mission areas where the use of certain vehicles is
particularly suitable for specific configurations. The VBTP-MR family of will
include a string of derivatives, including command vehicle, technical assistance vehicle, armoured ambulance, 120-mm
mortar carrier, fire direction vehicle and and 8x8 version to be used by the Brazilian Marines.
VBTP-MR (Viatura Blindada de Transporte de
Pessoal-Médio de Rodas)
The new project is focused around the VBTP-MR family of
vehicles that have an 18 ton total weight, are equipped with
diesel engines, feature 6x6 traction, offer amphibious
ability and are capable of carrying 11 soldiers. The basic
model has a length of 6.91 meters, width of 2.7 meters and a
height of 2.34 meters. The vehicle may be equipped with a
turret door, remote control for various applications, and
can also be transported by air in an aircraft type such as
the C-130 Hercules.
This family of armored vehicles is deeply rooted in the
developing world. This specific design has been curated by
the Brazilian army (through the draft Mobility Strategy and
DCT - Institute of Science and Technology) jointly with
Iveco and is reportedly closely-based on Iveco's
evolutionary SuperAV. For definition of this project, which
was undertaken by leading specialist companies in Brazil,
has been allocated 30 million reais (€ 12 million). The
first prototype is currently being built in Brazil and will
be ready during the first half of 2010, while another 16
units, the project’s pilot batch, will be produced by Iveco
in Brazil between 2010 and 2011.
The choice of
the VBTP-MR family is the result of a tender process
launched by the Army in 2007 which was won by Iveco. A key
factor in the choice was the depth of experience of Iveco
Defense Vehicles, which designs, manufactures and markets a
full range of military vehicles, including models like the
Brazilian VBTP-MR. A full-scale mock-up of the VBTP-MR was
unveiled at the Latin America Aero & Defence Show (LAAD),
the largest military fair in Latin America, which was held
in the Expo Center in the Rio Centro, Rio de Janeiro in
April 2009.
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