Denmark has chosen the Piranha 5 to replace its aging M113 troop carriers, becoming the launch customer for the General Dynamics [GD] wheeled infantry fighting vehicle, the company said.
The Danish Ministry of Defense awarded the contract to GD’s Switzerland-based subsidiary Mowag for at least 206 Piranha 5s. Depending on how many of their Vietnam-era M113s the Danish Army chooses to replace, the sale could inflate to more than 400 vehicles. The exact number will be determined later, according to the Danish MoD.
Photo: General Dynamics European Land Systems
The Danish Army already operates versions of the Piranha, which are built in several variants and wheel configurations. The U.S. Marine Corps’ light armored vehicle 25 (LAV-25) was built by GD Land Systems Canada based on an earlier version of the Mowag Piranha.
The fifth-generation Piranha 5 8-wheeled personnel carrier weighs between 25 and 30 tons and was originally the troop carrier favored by the British Army’s Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) program that aimed to purchase as many as 4,000 armored vehicles.
Piranha was dropped from consideration among British budget troubles and bidding for the program has since relaunched. Reports indicate the British Army is showing renewed interest in the Piranha 5, which was unveiled at Eurosatory in 2010.
For the Danish contract, the Piranha pulled ahead of tracked offerings from BAE Systems, FFG Flensberger and the ASCOD, built by Santa Barbara Sistemas, another GD-owned company. Nexter reportedly offered the VBCI it builds for the French Army.
In that regard, the competition mirrored the long-running industry battle to replace the U.S. Army’s M113s called the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV). The primary contenders were a General Dynamics wheeled family of vehicles based on the Stryker and BAE, which offered a tracked APC based on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
BAE ultimately came out on top, winning in December an engineering and manufacturing development contract worth $1.2 billion.
Alfonso Ramonet, president of GD European Land Systems, said the company is “confident that this program and the PIRANHA 5 in particular will guarantee the best protection for the Danish troops and provide the best value for the Danish industrial base.”
Work on the vehicles will be done in conjunction with GD’s Danish industry partner Falck Schmidt Defense Systems.