Unmanned 30mm Turret for Spanish Army 8×8
At FEINDEF in Madrid on 30 May Navantia, EXPAL and Elbit Systems announced the offering of the TIZONA 30mm unmanned turret for the Spanish Army’s 8×8 wheeled combat vehicle (VCR) programme.
Susana de Sarriá, President of Navantia, stressed “the national nature of our proposal, which in addition to generating an important workload in Cádiz, is a safe bet for the Ministry [of Defence], in terms of production risk reduction and life cycle.” Pedro Sallent, General Manager of EXPAL, highlighted that “this alliance seeks to offer our armed forces a state-of-the-art weapons system produced by two Spanish defence companies, strengthening our technological sovereignty.”
The presentation confirms the agreement signed by the three companies in December last year, which will allow both for the production in Spain of the turret systems and for their future maintenance and modernisation.
Navantia is providing knowledge, experience and facilities for the programme, including a strong capacity for manufacture and integration of weapon systems; EXPAL will be responsible for the manufacture and testing of electrical and electronic subsystems, as well as their maintenance. Elbit Sytems will support the start-up and qualification of the new production lines, and guarantees the low technological risk of the programme. In addition to the strong domestic production plan, the partners have defined an ambitious export plan, which will benefit from the strong international footprints of the Spanish partners.
TIZONA provides advanced operational capabilities and technologies for the Spanish Army. It is a high precision, combat-proven system, both in static and dynamic firing, thanks to the stabilisation features of the barrel and the performance of its latest generation electro-optical systems, tested successfully in the most extreme conditions. TIZONA is integrated into the 8×8 vehicle selected by the Ministry of Defence, including other selected subsystems such as the SPIKE anti-tank missile, coaxial cannon or smoke grenade launcher systems.
In addition, TIZONA will be available in both manned and unmanned versions with minimal modifications and a high level of commonality, thereby providing significant potential cost reductions. The unmanned version has already been integrated into the same PIRANHA V vehicle for other NATO armed forces.
This partnership will create national value by developing a strong industrial plan that will generate high quality employment for Navantia and EXPAL, with around 300 direct and indirect jobs, as well as investment in production facilities.
