The Piranha V Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) is one variant of the fifth generation of the Mowag Piranha family of vehicles. It was designed by General Dynamics European Land Systems - Mowag GmbH.

Design

Mobility

While the Piranha V is available with a MTU 6V199 TE21

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

producing 430 kW, both Denmark and Spain have opted for a different Powerpack built by the Spanish company SAPA, consisting of a Scania Diesel engine with 480 kW coupled with the SW 624 automatic transmission, and an auxiliary power unit with 75 kW

Protection

Standard armour (

STANAG 4569 NATO AEP-55 STANAG 4569 is a NATO Standardization Agreement covering the standards for the "Protection Levels for Occupants of Logistic and Light Armored Vehicles". The standard covers strikes from kinetic energy, artillery and IED blasts. Level ...

, Level 4/4b) offers all-round 14.5mm AP protection and 20mm-23mm AP on front. Can offer full protection for the crew if a 10 kg explosive AT mine explodes under the hull. Add-ons can offer all-round protection to 25mm AP rounds and level 5 STANAG 4569.

Operational history

Romania

In 2017, Romania signed a 900 million euro contract with General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) for the purchase and production of 227 Piranha V armored personnel carriers in Romania. The joint venture between GDELS and (UMB) also aims to provide the Piranha V to the export market in the area. Besides production, a military vehicle maintenance will also operate at UMB. The first batch of 36 vehicles, was produced at GDELS-Mowag's facilities in

Kreuzlingen Kreuzlingen is a municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen in the canton of Thurgau in north-eastern Switzerland. It is the seat of the district and is the second-largest city of the canton, after Frauenfeld, with a population of about 22,000. ...

, Switzerland, 10 of which were assembled in Bucharest. The first batch included 30 vehicles in

Infantry Fighting Vehicle An infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), also known as a mechanized infantry combat vehicle (MICV), is a type of armoured fighting vehicle used to carry infantry into battle and provide direct-fire support. The 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forc ...

configuration equipped with 30 mm cannons, and 6 in mobile command point configuration, and was assigned to the 26th Infantry Battalion "Neagoe Basarab", also known as the Red Scorpions, in October 2020. A second batch of 32 vehicles assembled at UMB, was received in November 2022. Another 26 Piranhas will be received in different configurations, including mortar carriers, equipped with Spear MK2 120 mm mortars, ambulances,

CBRN Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence (CBRN defence) are protective measures taken in situations in which chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear warfare (including terrorism) hazards may be present. CBRN defence consi ...

, and recovery vehicles. The rest of the vehicles will be entirely produced in Romania. On 10 February 2023, it was announced that Romania will purchase another 150 Piranha V for an estimated cost of 674 million US dollars.

Operators

Danish Army The Royal Danish Army ( da, Hæren, fo, Herurin, kl, Sakkutuut) is the land-based branch of the Danish Defence, together with the Danish Home Guard. For the last decade, the Royal Danish Army has undergone a massive transformation of structures ...

- in the process of acquiring 309, first delivered in May 2017, last expected to be delivered by 2023. * Monégasque Carabiniers – 2 Piranha V. * **

Spanish Army The Spanish Army ( es, Ejército de Tierra, lit=Land Army) is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies — dating back to the late 15th century. The ...

– 5 units acquired in 2015 as prototypes for the VBMR program, in order to replace the existing BMR and

VEC Vec may mean: Mathematics: * vec(''A''), the vectorization of a matrix ''A''. * Vec denotes the category of vector spaces over the reals. Other: * Venetian language (Vèneto), language code. * Vecuronium, a muscle relaxant. * vec, a sentient mora ...

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

vehicles. First batch of 348 vehicles, to start replacing in 2020 a total of 1200 vehicles of several types. The Spanish variant will be locally known as Dragón. **

Spanish Navy Marines The Spanish Naval Infantry ( es, Infantería de Marina) is the naval infantry unit of the Spanish Navy () responsible for conducting amphibious warfare by utilizing naval platforms and resources. The Marine Corps is fully integrated into the ...

- An undetermined number of Piranha V with 120 mm guns will substitute the M60A3 in service. *

Romanian Land Forces The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...

- 94 delivered by the end of 2022 *

Swiss Army The Swiss Armed Forces (german: Schweizer Armee, french: Armée suisse, it, Esercito svizzero, rm, Armada svizra; ) operates on land and in the air, serving as the primary armed forces of Switzerland. Under the country's militia system, re ...

- 32 Mörser 16 self-propelled mortar systems and 12 special vehicles on order to the Swiss Army. The Mörser 16 system consists of RUAG Cobra Mortar System mounted on PIRANHA 5 wheeled vehicle.

References

Armoured fighting vehicles of the post–Cold War period Wheeled infantry fighting vehicles General Dynamics land vehicles Armoured personnel carriers Military vehicles introduced in the 2010s Mowag Piranha {{mil-vehicle-stub