Spain gets first Dragon 8×8 fighting vehicles

On Tuesday, December 20, Tess Defense will deliver the first batch of seven Dragon 8×8 wheeled combat vehicles (VRC) for the Spanish army within the framework of the Fuerza 35 rearmament project. The first phase involves delivering 348 VCRs over the next five years.

Infodefensa Spanish edition reported about this.

Tess Defense will supply the first batch of armored vehicles in a version with enhanced mine protection. After delivery, the armored vehicles will arrive at a unit in Almeria where a new model of armored vehicles will be tested.

In August 2020, the Spanish Ministry of Defense signed a contract with a budget of more than 2 billion euros for the supply of 348 wheeled combat vehicles over the period of five years. According to the delivery schedule, the first batch of wheeled armored vehicles should arrive in 2022. These are seven vehicles in full configuration. Next year Spain should receive another 34 ones, and over time, manufacturers plan to increase the production rate and increase the size of deliveries to 50-80 vehicles each year, depending on the configuration.

The R&D phase of the program was finished in July this year after successful trials of standard armored vehicles in the Infantry Combat Vehicle version.

Last year, Tess Defense and the Spanish Ministry of Defense completed the choice of a promising 30mm combat module for the new wheeled IFV. The Guardian 30 module from the Spanish company Escribano Mechanical & Engineering was selected as main armament of the VCR. The program provides that at first 219 vehicles (all in the IFV version) will be equipped with this turret.

The 8×8 Dragon armored vehicle will be the basis of the future fleet of armored vehicles under the Force 35 rearmament program. It is planned that this wheeled armored vehicle will gradually replace obsolete М113 tracked armored personnel carriers and Pegaso VEC-M1 wheeled armored vehicles, which served for more than 40 years in the Spanish army and no longer meet modern requirements in terms of technology and protection.

Dragon 8×8

The Dragon wheeled combat vehicle is a Spanish localized version of the Mowag Piranha V armored vehicle developed by the Swiss division of General Dynamics.

The vehicle is designed according to the 8×8 wheel arrangement and is equipped with modern hydropneumatic suspension. Due to Scania’s 620-horsepower DC 13 diesel engine, the 33-ton vehicle can develop a maximum speed of up to 100 km/h on highways.

The Dragon wheeled armored vehicle is offered in a version with a combat module equipped with a 30mm autocannon, machine gun and anti-tank missiles. The vehicle is equipped with an additional power unit with a capacity of 101 horsepower, which can power the systems and the combat module when the engine is turned off.

Dragon has circular protection against 14.5mm caliber bullets and shrapnel of 155mm shells at a distance of 25 meters.

The vehicle is also protected from detonation of 10 kg of TNT under the wheel, which corresponds to level 4 of NATO STANAG 4569. And with additional protection in the front and side projection, the Dragon must withstand shelling from a 25mm automatic gun.