Brazilian Army chooses Italian armored vehicle Centauro II

SANTIAGO, Chile — The Brazilian Army has selected the Centauro II for its future eight-wheel drive armored combat vehicle, an Italian consortium announced Nov. 25.

The vehicle type will replace Brazil’s aging fleet of EE-9 Cascavel six-wheel drive armored vehicles equipped with 90mm guns. The EE-9 was developed and produced in Brazil in the 1970s, but the 15-ton tank-destroying vehicle has become long in the tooth for its original role.

Brazil plans to buy 221 Centauro II vehicles from the Italian consortium CIO, formed by Iveco Defence Vehicles and Oto Melara, as part of a program potentially worth more than $2 billion. The platform is locally known as VBC Cav-MSR for the Portugese name Viatura Blindada de Combate de Cavalaria–Média Sobre Rodas.

The 30-ton Centauro II is armed with a 120mm, 45-caliber smoothbore main gun. It can use NATO-standard ammunition currently employed by main battle tanks, including advanced airburst programmable munitions. Powered by an Iveco Vector 8V Euro III diesel fuel engine providing 533 kilowatts of power (about 715 horsepower), it can reach a speed of 105 kph (65 mph) on roads, and has a range exceeding 800 kilometers at 70 kph (43 mph).

Brazil plans to initially order 98 Centauro IIs, for delivery within 15 years. The country plans to order the remaining 123 vehicles required by the Army through a follow-on contract, to be signed a few years before the delivery of the initial vehicles is complete.

It’s unclear how much the first contract is worth, which is expected to be signed Dec. 5. However, Emilio Meneses, an independent defense analyst based in Santiago, Chile, estimates that, “with the value of the first contract near to $1 billion, the follow-on order will be surely worth an equivalent to $1.1 billion at current prices and currency value.”

The selection of the Centauro II didn’t surprise Meneses, who noted Iveco Defence Vehicles has a large footprint in Brazil.

“Its subsidiary, Iveco no Brasil, is producing the 6x6 wheeled, armored personnel carrier VBTP-MSR Guarani, with over 500 vehicles already delivered within plans to procure over 2,000, including variants,” Meneses told Defense News. The Guarani is a new troop transport undergoing production for the Army.

“Brazil led the way in South America in the 1970s, developing and producing the EE-9 Cascavel tank killer and the EE-11 Urutu troop-transport, wheeled, armored vehicles with a common chassis, which were exported to 25 countries around the world,” Meneses added. “The eventual local production of the Centauro II in Brazil and exports of the vehicle to other countries in South America are a real possibility.”

In the meantime, Brazil launched a program to upgrade 201 EE-9s for infantry fire support. The country awarded a contract to local company AKAER Engenharia in July 2022 to upgrade 98 of the vehicles. Each are to receive a new engine, a tower with automated control, air conditioning, replacement of optronics, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems’ Spike LR anti-tank missile launcher fitted to a turret, a new shooting computer and new sensors.

José Higuera is a Latin America correspondent for Defense News.

智利圣地亚哥——意大利财团于11月25日宣布，巴西陆军已选择Centauro II作为其未来的八轮驱动装甲战车。

这种新型车辆将取代巴西老旧的EE-9“卡斯卡韦尔”六轮驱动装甲车，后者配备90毫米火炮。EE-9于20世纪70年代在巴西研发生产，但这种15吨重的反坦克车辆对于其最初的用途而言早已过时。

巴西计划从意大利CIO财团（由依维柯防务车辆公司和奥托梅莱拉公司组成）购买221辆Centauro II装甲车，该项目总价值可能超过20亿美元。该平台在巴西被称为VBC Cav-MSR，其葡萄牙语名称为Viatura Blindada de Combate de Cavalaria–Média Sobre Rodas。

这款重达30吨的“半人马座II”型坦克配备一门120毫米、45倍径滑膛主炮。它可以使用目前主战坦克使用的北约标准弹药，包括先进的空爆可编程弹药。该坦克由一台符合欧III排放标准的依维柯Vector 8V柴油发动机提供动力，功率为533千瓦（约715马力）。其公路行驶速度可达105公里/小时（65英里/小时），以70公里/小时（43英里/小时）的速度行驶时，续航里程超过800公里。

巴西计划先期订购98辆Centauro II装甲车，交付期限为15年。该国计划通过后续合同订购陆军所需的剩余123辆装甲车，该合同将在首批车辆交付完成前几年签署。

目前尚不清楚第一份合同的价值，预计将于12月5日签署。然而，智利圣地亚哥的独立国防分析师埃米利奥·梅内塞斯估计，“第一份合同的价值接近10亿美元，按当前价格和汇率计算，后续订单的价值肯定相当于11亿美元。”

梅内塞斯对选择 Centauro II 并不感到意外，他指出依维柯防务车辆公司在巴西的业务规模很大。

梅内塞斯告诉《防务新闻》：“其子公司依维柯巴西公司正在生产6x6轮式装甲运兵车VBTP-MSR Guarani，目前已交付500多辆，计划采购2000多辆，其中包括各种衍生车型。” Guarani是一款正在为美国陆军生产的新型部队运输车。

梅内塞斯补充道：“上世纪70年代，巴西在南美洲引领潮流，研发并生产了EE-9 Cascavel坦克歼击车和EE-11 Urutu运兵车，这两款采用通用底盘的轮式装甲车出口到全球25个国家。最终在巴西实现Centauro II的本地化生产，并将其出口到南美洲其他国家，是完全有可能的。”

与此同时，巴西启动了一项计划，旨在升级201辆EE-9步兵火力支援装甲车。2022年7月，巴西与当地公司AKAER Engenharia签订合同，对其中98辆装甲车进行升级。每辆装甲车都将更换新发动机、带自动化控制的炮塔、空调系统、光电系统、安装在炮塔上的拉斐尔先进防御系统公司（Rafael Advanced Defense Systems）的“长钉”（Spike LR）反坦克导弹发射器、新型射击计算机和新型传感器。

何塞·伊格拉是《防务新闻》拉丁美洲记者。