Competitors for Spain’s future 6x6 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 6x6 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 8x8 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 6x6 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 6x6 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.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——本周，各国防制造商纷纷涌向马德里，参加两年一度的西班牙国防展（Feindef），他们都在关注西班牙可能订购的新型六轮装甲车，并展示新的设计方案或同意合作，为西班牙陆军研发装甲车辆。

西班牙技术与安全发展公司 (Technology & Security Developments) 和 Grupo Oesía、土耳其 FNSS Savunma Sistemleri 以及比利时 John Cockerill Defense 签署了一份谅解备忘录，将为西班牙陆军提供六轮骑兵车辆。这些公司周三在一份联合声明中表示。

TDS、Oesía、FNSS 和 John Cockerill 表示，他们的目标是为西班牙陆军提供一套现成的解决方案，包括本地后勤支持和全生命周期管理。这四家公司表示，他们的方案是专门为骑兵作战和远征部队提供火力支援而设计的。

西班牙陆军目前装备的是6x6 BMR型装甲车，这是一款服役超过四十年的15吨级车辆，由圣巴巴拉系统公司（Santa Bárbara Sistemas，现为通用动力欧洲陆地系统公司（GDELS）的一部分）制造。陆军正计划用8x8 Dragón型装甲车替换部分轮式车辆。Dragón型装甲车更重、更昂贵，交付时间有所延迟，据当地媒体报道，该车还出现过机械故障。

Indra 于 10 月份收购了 Dragón 制造财团的多数股权，从合作伙伴 GDELS、SAPA 和 Escribano Mechanical and Engineering（简称 EM&E）手中购买了股份。

此外，西班牙EM&E公司在Feindef防务展上展示了其Ferox 6x6装甲车。此前，该公司于今年2月与阿联酋EDGE集团旗下的NIMR Automotive公司达成协议，将在西班牙生产六轮装甲车。EM&E公司表示，该协议涵盖技术转让和车辆的“逐步本土化”生产，并赋予西班牙设计权。

“这款车辆标志着EM&E集团在装甲车辆领域进入了一个新阶段，”首席执行官费尔南多·费尔南德斯表示。

与此同时，莱茵金属公司和英德拉公司周二宣布签署谅解备忘录，将在西班牙武装部队的装甲车辆项目上开展合作。

莱茵金属公司战术车辆业务部门首席执行官爱德华多·维恩·马丁内斯表示，通过这份谅解备忘录，两家公司“建立了一个强大的联盟，以支持西班牙武装部队对其作战车辆车队进行现代化改造的努力”。

GDELS公司在马德里举行的防务展上展示了其Pandur 6x6 EVO装甲车，该公司表示，作为西班牙国防工业联合会（Feindef）的成员参展，体现了其对西班牙武装部队和政府国防工业战略的“坚定承诺”。

该公司还在展会上推出了一款名为 Ascod Nemesis 的新型履带式火炮系统，该系统由 KNDS 制造的 155 毫米火炮模块安装在 GDELS 制造的 Ascod 履带式底盘上组成。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。