MOWAG PIRANHA IIIC 8x8 for the Brazilian Marines
06 February 2007
On September 6th 2006, the Brazilian Navy and MOWAG GmbH, a General Dynamics company, signed a contract for the delivery of five units of the PIRANHA IIIC 8x8. The vehicles will be delivered in the amphibious version and will be used in a UN Mission in Haiti next year. For MOWAG, this is the first sale success of PIRANHA III vehicles in South America and the first ever order from Brazil.
Previously, in the year 2000, the Brazilian Ministry of Defence tested the PIRANHA III in competition with other vehicles available on the world market and awarded the MOWAG product with the necessary qualifications. As the first force, the Brazilian navy has ordered five vehicles in the amphibious version for its marines, including logistic support.
Out of the five vehicles ordered, four will be delivered in the APC - Armoured Personnel Carrier and one in a maintenance version. Because the PIRANHAs should serve as soon as possible in a UN Peace Keeping Mission in Haiti, a very short term of delivery has been agreed. Production of the five PIRANHAs will take place at MOWAG's facility in Kreuzlingen and the vehicles will be delivered during 2007.
MOWAG believes that its products will appeal to many other customers in South America because of those countries' interoperability requirements with NATO and/or UN forces, in the light of joint peace keeping operations. The threat situation in such missions specifically calls for a high level of protection for the vehicle crews against IEDs and small-arms fire.
With the worldwide operating PIRANHA IIIC 8x8, the technology-advanced company from Kreuzlingen-Switzerland offers a proven product, which fulfils this high-ranking requirement of protection, comfort and mobility.
