386 Vehicles Modernised Over 10 Years
Just a little more than ten years after the modernisation process began of the M-113 BR Armoured Personnel Transport Vehicle (VBTP) fleet in July 2010, the Brazilian Army has now received the final units under the 386-vehicle programme.
The last vehicles were delivered to the 7th Armoured Infantry Battalion, bringing to an end what has become a benchmark programme for the Brazilian armed forces. The vehicles received a reinforced suspension in addition to changes in systems and components to enable it to handle approx. 90hp of additional power, to make it easier for the APC to keep pace with the LEOPARD 1A5 BR in field operations. Changes were also made in the communications system, adding FALCON radio equipment and a SOTAS intercom. Overall, the modernisation programme aimed at providing the army with a better-performing and more reliable vehicle, able to support a high rate of availability, reducing both cost and duration of preventive and corrective maintenance procedures and extending the VBTP M-113 BR life cycle by at least 20 years.
Santiago Rivas and Florencia Lucero Heguy in Buenos Aires for MON