Iveco Defence Vehicles announced that on 23 June 2009 the Slovak Army and Iveco signed a contract for a batch of ten Light Multirole Vehicles to be delivered by the end of the year.
Flavio Marchesoni, sales and marketing director of Iveco Defence Vehicles, said: “This contract win builds on the success of the LMV which has been selected for front line duties by nine armies to date.”
Designed to incorporate high tactical mobility with high maximum road speed and optimal off-road and cross-country performance, the LMV has high protection levels against anti tank and anti personnel mines, with an emphasis on crew protection rather than vehicle integrity.
High reliability, ease of maintenance and low through life costs were key considerations during the design of LMV. Built in and external diagnostics allow timely identification of impending malfunctions, allowing preventive maintenance to be undertaken, whilst the facility to collect functional data allows effective whole fleet management.
The use of commercial off the shelf (COTS) main assemblies, such as the gearbox and engine, ensures that performance and reliability have been proven over many millions of road miles in demanding environmental conditions. This provides an outstanding level of reliability and consequently excellent fleet availability.
The LMV is suitable for numerous weapon system installations, such as 7.62mm or 12.7mm remote weapon stations, as well as 40mm grenade launchers, and is therefore well adapted to any peacekeeping and patrol mission.
The provision of anti-mine protection has also been given a high priority, with the over-riding aim being to ensure the survival of the crew. To this end, a normal control cab has been used and the results of the latest research into mine protection have been incorporated, including a V-shaped vehicle bottom. This can be up-armoured as required to meet the appropriate level of threat.
The overall structure of the vehicle has been designed in accordance with the “crashworthiness” concept. The design of the vehicle itself, and the materials which have been used in its construction, are specifically designed to manage and absorb the blast energy generated by a mine detonation.
Since the beginning of operations in Afghanistan, the high protection of the LMV has
proved its worth in saving the life of the crew in many occasions.
Figures on the LMV:
The LMV was selected for front line duties by:
- Italy: 1286 units
- UK: 401 units
- Spain: 120 units
- Norway: 60 units
- Belgium: 440 units
- Croatia: 10 units
- Czech Republic: 21 units
- Austria: 150 units
- Slovak Republic: 10 units
- Production output in 2008: 950 units