Spanish Army moves forward on new 8x8 with tech demonstrators delivered to the Legion Brigade this Nov.

via Spanish Army Magazine.

8x8, the end of the wait.

The Army's aspiration to have a modern vehicle to replace the half-wheeled veterans (BMR) and was the key vehicle of the modern Brigades comes from afar. However, the bad economic situation caused the project to be suspended. The recovery has made it possible to resume it and already has specific dates, a budget of 92 million euros and a successful bidder: the Temporary Business Union formed by Indra, General Dynamics European Land Systems-Santa Bárbara Sistemas and SAPA operations.

At the end of 2015, the contract was signed to launch the first phase (design and development), which will culminate next November with the arrival of five technological demonstrators. Once delivered, the operational tests will be carried out with them, and the Legion Brigade has been the unit chosen to make them.

The 8x8 Combat Vehicle on Wheels (VCR) program aims to obtain a combat system that incorporates new technical solutions to face the evolution of threats and is key in the new organic structure of the Army. It includes a family of armored, wheeled, medium-weight vehicles, versatile, adaptable, with high protection capacity, lethality and operational mobility (thanks to a lower fuel consumption and ease of travel using different types of communication channels). They also enjoy greater strategic mobility, since they can be projected by air more easily, due to their weight, which allows rapid deployment in any scenario, in a short space of time. At the same time, they provide the average units with superiority in the confrontation. They also stand out for their modularity and versatility, which allows the compatibility, collaboration and incorporation of future updates and subsystems as a result of technological progress, as well as their integration with the plans and programs that the Army already has in operation.

Its purpose is to replace, progressively, the historical BMR, Armored Caterpillar Transport (TOA) and Cavalry Exploration Vehicle (VEC), and vehicles acquired for protection against mines and improvised explosive devices, such as the Lynx and the RG-31.

Story here.

Interesting.  I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.  Spain, Italy, Poland, The Netherlands and alot of the so called mid powers don't get enough attention.

They're the backbone of NATO (meaning unsung heroes in my opinion) and stressed countries like Spain that are doing it while under economic distress, and still fielding credible forces is beyond impressive.

Back on task.  I also like the idea of them building a family of vehicles out the box.  For some reason this fell out of favor but was once common.