The Spanish Land Forces have received 40 wheeled Dragon 8×8 infantry fighting vehicles, a number operationally equivalent to the vehicle inventory of a mechanized battalion.
The delivery is part of the Fuerza 35 rearmament program, which aims to structurally modernize the Spanish army.
The information was released by Spain’s Ministry of Defense, which confirmed that the vehicles were officially received at the Álvarez de Sotomayor base following handover by the industrial consortium Tess Defence.
The reception ceremony was attended by Minister of Defense Margarita Robles, Secretary of State for Defense Amparo Valcarce and the Chief of Staff of the Army (JEME), General Amador Ensenyat. Robles, who has previously criticized delays in the program, highlighted the strategic importance of phasing in the new capabilities.
“Our army is the most important. Thanks to this program, the interoperability of the Spanish army, as well as its reliability and responsibility in missions under NATO, the EU and the UN, have been strengthened,” she stated.
Dragon 8×8
Dragon 8×8 is the Spanish localized version of the armored vehicle The Moses Voriginally developed by the Swiss division of General Dynamics. The vehicle is designed in an 8×8 configuration, is equipped with modern hydropneumatic suspension and is powered by a Scania DC13 diesel engine with an output of 620 hp, which enables the approximately 33 ton vehicle to reach speeds of up to 100 km/h on the road.
The platform is offered in several configurations, including versions armed with machine guns, 30 mm automatic cannon and anti-tank missiles. In terms of protection, the Dragon has full circular armor against 14.5 mm ammunition as well as fragments from 155 mm artillery shells at a distance of 25 meters.
The vehicle is also protected against the detonation of up to 10 kg of TNT under the wheel and thus meets level 4 of the NATO standard stanag 4569. With extra frontal and lateral armour, it is also expected to be able to withstand fire from 25 mm automatic guns.
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The Dragon 8×8 is intended to be the backbone of the future fleet of wheeled armored vehicles of the Spanish Army within the framework of Fuerza 35 and will gradually replace the aging M113 as well as the Pegaso VEC-M1 reconnaissance vehicles that have been in service for more than four decades.
Contract and criticism of the program
The contract for the supply of 348 vehicles was signed in August 2020 with a budget of over 2 billion euros and predicts deliveries over a five-year period. The first series of vehicles for testing purposes arrived in 2022 in accordance with the original schedule.
Despite recent progress, the Dragon program has been the subject of repeated criticism in the Spanish military press. Reports point to technical and organizational challenges, including excess weight, problems with the rear ramp, failures in pulley systems, instability in the powertrain, and difficulties in approving tests that include the turret, chassis, and mechanical and electronic systems.
Source and images: Ministerio Defensa – X @Defensagob. This content was prepared with the help of AI and reviewed by the editors.
