New company cleared to implement Spanish Army VCR Dragon Wheeled Combat Vehicle Program.

Indra Sistemas, Santa Bárbara Sistemas, Sapa Placencia and Escribano Mechanical & Engineering will constitute a company that will be in charge of executing the 8x8 VCR Programme after the Ministry of Defence has signed the resolution that allows for the constitution of the company.
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8x8 Dragon vehicle designed for the Spanish army VCR Program (Picture source: Spanish MoD)

This company will be in charge of supplying 348 8x8 Wheeled Combat Vehicles (WFCV) as well as the maintenance and support to their life cycle and their international commercialization. These vehicles will be delivered in 13 different variants (a figure to be confirmed) within an estimated period of seven years.

The objective of the four companies through this partnership is to satisfy all operational objectives and meet all the needs of the Spanish Army and the Ministry of Defense and to become a driving force in the national industry. The development of this program involves an ambitious national Industrial Plan, that favors Spanish exercise of design authority and promotes higher participation of the national industry in this plan, at a percentage of no less than 70%. The program will have a special impact in the Spanish economy, it is expected the creation of 650 direct jobs and another 1,000 indirect ones. The program will additionally generate industrial property for the national industry and allow national sovereignty to be maintained over a product that represents an essential capacity for national defense.

The country’s “Dragón” Vehiculo de Combate sobre Ruedas (VCR), or Combat Vehicle on Wheels, program was brought to a halt in December 2019. Margarita Robles, Spain’s Defense Minister, announced on December 27 that Spain would re-tender the €2.1 billion contract to produce 348 VCRs. A new tender period has now begun. A contract is expected to be signed during the third quarter of 2020.