Iveco Defence Vehicles (IDV) will supply 36 Amphibious Armored Vehicles (VBA) personnel carriers to the Italian Navy as part of a contract with the Italian Ministry of Defence (MoD)’s Directorate of Land Armaments.
The contract comes as part of the program to renew and extend the vehicles’ fleet to strengthen national defense, aimed at increasing the Sea Projection National Capability of the Italian Navy.
IDV’s VBA is an 8×8 all-terrain vehicle, capable of being launched and recovered from an amphibious vessel in open ocean whilst offering excellent mobility and high-level ballistic, anti-mine and anti-Improvised Explosive Device (IED) protection.
IDV believes its state-of-the-art amphibious vehicles will reinforce the fleet of San Marco Marina Brigade (BMSM) and effectively increase the Sea Projection National Capability.
The 700HP FPT Cursor 16 engine, combined with an automatic seven-speed gearbox and an H-driveline, derived from the Centauro and the VBM Freccia, provides the VBA with a maximum on-road speed of 105 km/h, while the two rear-mounted hydraulic propellers guarantee the navigation beyond ‘Sea State 3’ and a top speed of 6 knots. The platform is equipped with a HITROLE Light remote turret, supplied by Leonardo, with a 12.7mm caliber weapon and latest generation C4 systems.
The VBA for the Italian Navy is based on the SUPERAV 8×8, the amphibious vehicle platform used for the US Marine Corps’ Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV), which is provided in partnership with BAE Systems.
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