Iveco Superav

The Iveco Superav (styled SuperAV) is an 8WD tactical vehicle developed by the Italian commercial vehicle company Iveco.

Design

Mobility

The Superav is an 8x8 wheeled amphibious vehicle. It is powered by an Iveco Cursor 13 6L turbocharged multifuel diesel engine coupled with a ZF 7HP902 gearbox (seven forward and one reverse). It has a top speed of 105 km/h (65 mph) on land and 10 km/h (6.2 mph) on water. The vehicle's range is 500 mi (800 km) on land and 40 mi (64 km) on water. The wheels have a central tire inflation system and run-flat tires. The Superav is fully amphibious, able to operate in and past sea state 2. It can be air transported by a C-130 Hercules or an Airbus A400M.^[1][2]

Protection

Iveco claims the Superav has the highest protection level in its class. It incorporates a high hardness monocoque steel hull, able to protect the crew from small arms fire, artillery shell splinters, landmines, and IEDs. Add-on armor kits are available. The vehicle has NBC protection and automatic fire suppression systems.^[1][2]

Armament

The Superav can be fitted with weapons systems up to 40 mm in remote weapons stations or turrets. If a two-man turret is installed, troops capacity is reduced from 12 to 8.^[1][2]

Versions

The Superav is available as an armoured personnel carrier, anti tank vehicle, mortar carrier, engineer vehicle, recovery vehicle, ambulance, and command post vehicle.^[1]

History

In 2009, the Brazilian Army signed a deal with Iveco Latin America for the VBTP-MR Guarani 6x6 APC, based on the Superav.^[1]

In 2010, the Superav was offered to the Italian Army for their requirement for an amphibious vehicle to replace the AAVTP-7A1.^[1]

MPC/ACV

In 2011, Iveco entered an agreement with BAE Systems to offer the Superav to the United States Marine Corps in their Marine Personnel Carrier program.^[1] In August 2012, the Superav was selected along with three other vehicles for further demonstration and study.^[3] BAE had to redesign the original Superav to make it compatible with the Marine Corps mandate that any designs be based on existing platforms. The MPC submission was modified to carry three crew and nine 6 ft 3 in tall marines standing, each weighing 220 lb (100 kg) with gear. It has a V-shaped hull to withstand strong bomb blasts and can travel up to 10 nmi (12 mi; 19 km) from a dock landing ship to shore and back. Unit cost is $3.5 million.^[4] The vehicle swims through the water using two counter-rotating propellers, each with 65,000 lb (29,000 kg) of thrust per propeller.^[5]

On 8 May 2013, BAE and Iveco successfully completed 12 days of evaluations on the Superav for the MPC program at Camp Pendleton. The evaluations included a water performance demonstrations in various sea conditions, as well as human factors and stowage capacity. The Superav, weighing 26 tons, exceeded all vehicle requirements, performing personnel exit drills in less than 17 seconds and showcasing advanced interior layout and compartmentalization that allowed for the stowage of more than three days of supplies without jeopardizing the survivability of the vehicle and personnel. Similar tests conducted by Iveco confirmed the vehicle's ability to be launched and recovered from ships and transition in surf zones. BAE and Iveco then prepared for survivability demonstrations in the summer.^[6][7]

The Marine Personnel Carrier was put on hold in June 2013,^[8] restarted in February 2014,^[9] and then restructured as Phase 1 of the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) program,^[10] which includes the previous MPC competitor entries.^[11]

References