Engesa

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Engesa - Engenheiros Especializados S/A was a Brazilian company in the defense sector that specialized in producing tactical military trucks and armored fighting vehicles, including the EE-T1 Osório, EE-9 Cascavel and EE-11 Urutu.

Engesa started its involvement with special vehicles by developing all-wheel-drive systems for retrofit onto commercial trucks. At the same time, the Brazilian Army was trying to develop its own wheeled armored vehicle to replace obsolete equipment. Engesa took over that development, which resulted in the first EE-9 Cascavel, a 6x6 vehicle with the so-called "Boomerang" rear suspension. Later, the vehicle was slightly widened to accept a 90mm gun turret.

Another development was the EE-11 Urutu, an amphibious armored personnel carrier equipped with the same type of suspension and transmission as the Cascavel. After many successful years of commercialization of wheeled armored vehicles, the company decided to develop tracked vehicles.

The EE-T1 Osório was a very modern main battle tank developed with a unique combination of firepower, mobility and armor protection. It was directly compared with the Abrams M1 (US), Challenger (UK) and others during tests in the Middle East, demonstrating its excellent performance. This tank has not reached production, however, being a victim of the company's financial problems.

Engesa, based in São José dos Campos, Brazil, went into bankruptcy in 1993.