Competitors for Spain’s future 6×6 armored vehicle face off in Madrid

PARIS — Defense manufacturers eyeing a possible Spanish order for a new 6-wheeled armored vehicle flocked to Madrid this week for the biannual Feindef defense show, presenting new designs or agreeing to work together on armor for the country’s land forces.

Spain’s Technology & Security Developments and Grupo Oesía, Turkey’s FNSS Savunma Sistemleri and Belgium’s John Cockerill Defense signed a memorandum of understanding to provide a six-wheeled cavalry vehicle for the Spanish Army, the companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

TDS, Oesía, FNSS and John Cockerill said they aim to offer the Spanish Army an off-the-shelf solution, with local logistics support and life cycle management. Their offer is specifically designed for cavalry operations and providing fire support for expeditionary forces, the four firms said.

Spain’s Ejercito de Tierra operates the 6×6 BMR, a more than four decades-old 15-ton vehicle built by Santa Bárbara Sistemas, now part of General Dynamics European Land Systems, or GDELS. The army is replacing at least part of its wheeled fleet with the 8×8 Dragón, a heavier and more expensive vehicle that‘s faced delivery delays and which local media report has suffered mechanical issues.

Indra acquired a majority stake in the consortium that makes the Dragón in October, buying shares from partners GDELS, SAPA and Escribano Mechanical and Engineering, or EM&E.

Separately, Spain’s EM&E presented the Ferox 6×6 armored vehicle at Feindef, after an agreement in February with NIMR Automotive, a unit of the United Arab Emirates’ EDGE, to build six-wheeled armored vehicles in Spain. The agreement provides for transfer of knowledge and “progressive national industrialization” of the vehicle, with design authority in Spain, EM&E said.

“This vehicle marks the beginning of a new stage for EM&E Group in the field of armored vehicles,” Chief Executive Fernando Fernández said.

Meanwhile, Rheinmetall and Indra on Tuesday announced a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on armored-vehicle projects for the Spanish armed forces.

With the MoU, the companies “start a strong alliance to support the efforts of the Spanish Armed Forces to modernize their fleet of combat vehicles,” said Eduardo Veen Martinez, the CEO of Rheinmetall’s tactical vehicles business unit.

For its part, GDELS presented its Pandur 6×6 EVO armored vehicle at the defense show in Madrid, with the company saying its presence as Feindef reflects a “firm commitment” to the Spanish armed forces and the government‘s defense industrial strategy.

The company also unveiled a new tracked artillery system at the show called the Ascod Nemesis, consisting of a 155mm artillery gun module from KNDS mounted on an Ascod tracked chassis by GDELS.