The
Pegaso VEC-M1 is a Spanish military
cavalry reconnaissance
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities.
Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
vehicle. It started service in the Spanish Army in 1980 as BMR-625 VEC (a.k.a. Pegaso 3562) and all of them were upgraded in late 1990s to the M1 version.
Technical characteristics
The vehicle was developed and produced by Pegaso, now
Iveco, as a derivative of the well-known
Pegaso BMR
The Pegaso 3560 BMR (Spanish acronym of "Blindado Medio sobre Ruedas", "Medium Armored on Wheels") is a 6x6 wheeled armoured personnel carrier produced in Spain by Enasa since 1979.
Technical characteristics
Originally powered by a Pegaso 91 ...
. It is a
6x6, currently powered by a 315
hp Scania
Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne ...
DS9 diesel 6-cylinder engine, disposed in the rear right side of the hull, which replaced the original Pegaso 306 hp engine.
It mounts an automatic 25 mm chain gun (
M242 Bushmaster) into a two-man turret and a coaxial 7.62 mm MG3S machine gun. Six electrically fired smoke grenade launchers are located on the sides of the turret, three on the left side and three on the right. It had amphibious ability, as two
hydrojets for displacement in water were an optional equipment.
The crew in composed by five men: the commander, the gunner, the driver and two scouts.
Operators
*: Employed the VEC in combat in the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
,
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
,
Sinai and in the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror
, image ...
, where they were favoured by their crews and command because of their good all-round capabilities, mechanical reliability, armor and firepower. However, the VEC achieved a bad reputation being prone to overturn.
* Guyana Defence Force (GDF).
See also
*
List of armoured fighting vehicles by country
This is a list of armoured fighting vehicles, sorted by country of origin. The information in round brackets ( ) indicates the number of AFVs produced and the period of use. Prototypes are marked as such.
In the case of multi-national ...
External links
VEC-M1 on Army Recognition page (in French)VEC (and BMR) data (in Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vec-M1
Wheeled reconnaissance vehicles
Armoured fighting vehicles of Spain
Reconnaissance vehicles
Wheeled military vehicles
Reconnaissance vehicles of the Cold War
Military vehicles introduced in the 1980s