Pegaso VEC Cavalry Scout Vehicle

     Notes: The VEC CSV is the standard reconnaissance vehicle of the Spanish military.  It has had no known exports, but 340 were produced for the Spanish Army.  It is based on the Pegaso BMR APC. The VEC saw combat service in the Balkans, Lebanon, and the Iraq War, and further service in Sinai peacekeeping operations, where they acquitted themselves well.

     The standard version is fitted with an OtoBreda TC25 turret armed with a 25mm Bushmaster cannon of the same type on the Bradley and LAV-25; originally, the armament was to be a 25mm KBA autocannon, but in 1987, the Spanish Army announced that they had selected the M242 as the VEC’s armament. There is another, rarer version that mounts a 90mm French gun, using the same H90 turret as a Panhard AML-90; this variant was phased out of Spanish service by 1986, and 100 were produced.  The first 32 were fitted with OtoBreda TC20 turret armed with the Rheinmetall Rh-202 20mm autocannon; these were placed in storage after deliveries of the other VECs commenced.

     The original VEC was developed by Pegaso as a variant of the BMR APC, and was originally designated the BMR-625 VEC. They were upgraded in the late 1990s to the VEC-M1 standard; the primary upgrade was from the 306-horsepower Pegaso diesel to the Scania DS9 315-horsepower engine and hydrojets to propel the vehicle in water instead of just propulsion in the water by rotating wheels. The engines of this vehicle are very quiet, with baffles in the exhaust system and soundproofing for the engine compartment to quiet the vehicle to about 60% of normal engine noise for a vehicle of this type and size.  The VEC has a 4.5-ton capacity winch at the front of the vehicle.  The three axles have independent suspension and have locking differentials.  Steering is power assisted. The engine compartment and transmission have automatic fire extinguishing systems, and there are two portable fire extinguishers protect the crew compartment. Tires are run-flat.

     The driver has a hatch on the front left deck, and the commander and gunner have hatches on the turret deck.  There is a hatch on the rear right face for the crew as well, as well as two hatches on the roof of the passenger compartment.  These hatches are also fitted with vision blocks for the dismount scouts. One scout is seated in the hull to the rear of the turret on the right side; the second scout is on the right rear of the hull. The VEC is fitted with extra radios (3 in all) and a computerized land navigation system. The VEC also has air conditioning and heating for the crew. Armor is of all-welded aluminum for the hull, with the frontal arc able to shrug off light autocannon hits, and the rest of the vehicle able to take 7.62mm Nagant or NATO AP hits. The turrets, however, are of steel construction.

*Belly AV is 6.