Article Posted on : - Aug 13, 2012

Guarani wheeled armoured vehicle. An Iveco photo.

BRASILIA (BNS): Brazil has signed a contract for the purchase of 86 Guarani armoured personnel carriers from Iveco, part of the Fiat Industrial Group, a news report said.

The initial Guarani vehicles, worth approximately 240 million Brazilian reals, will be used by infantry and cavalry units of the land force, according to a news report by Defence-Aerospace.

Seven armoured vehicles of the 16-vehicles pilot batch project are expected to be ready for the Army by December 2012. The Operational Experimentation Batch will comprise of 38 vehicles by July 2013, and the remaining 48 by July 2014.

The deal follows a 2009 agreement in which the army contracted Iveco to supply 6X6 Guarani or VBTP platforms as part of a wider 2,044-strong family of APCs. Over 100 units will be manufactured each year over the next 20 years at a new manufacturing plant in Sete Lagoas.

The Guarani is a six-wheel drive amphibious vehicle that will serve as the basis for a new family of armoured multimission vehicles capable of carrying out reconnaissance and fire support missions.

The new vehicle weighs 18 metric tonnes and will replace the Urutu and Cascavel wheeled armoured vehicles developed in the 1970s by the former Engesa.

The main feature of the Guarani is its modular design, allowing the incorporation of different turrets, weapons, sensors and communications systems on the same hull.