ASCOD Pizarro
The ASCOD Pizarro IFV
Type	Infantry Fighting Vehicle
Place of origin	Austria and Spain
Specifications
Weight	28 tonnes (30.9 short tons)
Length	6.24 m (26 ft)
Width	3.64 m (12 ft)
Height	2.43 m (8 ft)
Crew	3 + 7 Passengers
Armour	secret
Primary armament	30 mm Mauser MK 30-2
Secondary armament	MG3 7,62 mm (Pizarro) MG74 7,62 mm (Ulan)
Engine	600hp (Pizarro) 720 (Ulan)
Suspension	torsion bar
Speed	Road: 72 km/h

The ASCOD (Austrian Spanish Cooperation Development) AFV family is the product of a cooperation agreement between Austrian Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG (in 1998 the production of heavy armed vehicles was sold out under the name "Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug", which is now the producer) and Spanish Santa Bárbara Sistemas. The ASCOD family includes a 105 mm gun Light Tank LT 105, a SAM launcher, an AT missile launcher, mortar carrier, R&R vehicle, Command & Control vehicle, ambulance, artillery observer and the AIFV model. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (850x569, 263 KB) http://www. ... A Warrior vehicle with UN markings, during the making of the eponymous film. ... A tonne (symbol t), sometimes referred to as a metric tonne, is a measurement of weight. ... The short ton is a unit of mass equal to 907. ... The metre, or meter (US), is a measure of length. ... Military vehicles are commonly armoured to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets or shells, protecting the soldiers inside from enemy fire. ... Mauser is the common name of a German arms manufacturer, maker of a line of bolt-action rifles from the 1870s to present. ... An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is a military vehicle, equipped with protection against hostile attacks and often mounted weapons. ... Steyr-Daimler-Puch was a large manufacturing conglomerate based in Steyr, Austria. ... The US M1A1 Abrams tank is a typical modern main battle tank. ... Akash Missile Firing French Air Force Crotale battery Bendix Rim-8 Talos surface to air missile of the US Navy A surface-to-air missile (SAM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. ...

Developement History

The ASCOD Pizarro was designed to replace the older light armoured fighting vehicles of the Austrian and Spanish armies, such as the M113 armoured personnel carrier. The Ulan, the Austrian version of the Pizarro, would provide a flexible compliment to their heavy Leopard 2A4. The Ulan would allow the Austrian army to deploy rapidly and effectively over longer distances, espcially for forseeable future operations - such as Kosovo, or another trouble spot^[1]. The first prototype of the ASCOD IFV was ready and tested by 1992 and production was possible only four years later^[2]. The ASCOD was a very modern solution to bring both the Austrian and Spanish armour up to date. To put this into perspective, the Pizarro project was a part of the greater Project CORAZA (Project Armour) which was to replace Spain's M113 APCs, M60A3s, and M110 artillery pieces^[3]. A similar upgrade program was also concurrently underway in Austria. By 2005 the Austrian army was equipped with 112 Ulan vehicles^[4] and Spain with 143^[5]. In 2004 the Spanish Ministry of Defence ordered another 212 Pizarros for 707.5 million Euros^[6], with up to 900 units total planned^[7]. The M113 is an armored personnel carrier family of vehicles in use with the US military and many other nations. ... The M113, one of the most common tracked APCs, on duty during the Vietnam War. ... The Leopard 2 is a German main battle tank built by the German company Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann, developed in the early 1970s and first entering service in 1979, replacing the earlier Leopard 1 as the foremost MBT in the Bundeswehr. ... For other uses of the name Kosovo, see Kosovo (disambiguation). ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... The term M60 can refer to several things: The M60 motorway The M60 Patton tank The M60 machine gun An astronomical object, see Messier 60 BMW M60, a BMW piston engine This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same... M110 refers to: Messier 110 — a Messier object and an elliptical galaxy in the Andromeda constellation. ...

Spanish Pizarro in Madrid, 2006.

The Pizarro mounts a 30mm Mauser cannon in a fully traversable electro-mechanical turret. The 30mm cannon, stabalized on two planes, is able to fire on the move at a rate of up 800 rounds per minute. It also carries a 7.92mm machine gun as a secondary armament, carrying up to 205 rounds for the 30mm gun and 700mm for the 7.92mm machine gun. This armament is comparable to that of the M2 Bradley and the CV90, and preformed well in a Norwegian vehicles trial, although it ultimately lost to the Swedish CV90. The gun uses the Mk-10 fire control system from Indra, which has a full solution digital ballistic computer, day channel, thermal channel and laser rangefinder. Future versions of the Mk-10 will be fitted with a new VC2 thermal imager^[8]. The ASCOD Pizarro is also very well armoured, with a thick steel armour casing protected against up to 14mm bullets at 500 meters^[9], with all around protection against 7.92mm ammunition^[10]. Furthermore, the turret has two grenade launchers on either side to fire smoke grenades. The Pizarro is also fitted with limited amounts of SABBLIR reactive armour and might be upgraded with more later^[11]. However, with appliqué steel plates fitted it can be protected against 30mm APDS^[12]. Image File history File linksMetadata DSCF1156. ... Image File history File linksMetadata DSCF1156. ... Location Location of Madrid in Europe Coordinates : 40° 23’N , 3°43′0″W Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) - summer: CEST (GMT +2) General information Native name Villa de Madrid (Spanish) Spanish name Villa de Madrid Founded 9th century Postal code 28001-28080 Area code 34 (Spain) + 91 (Villa de... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mauser is the common name of a German arms manufacturer, maker of a line of bolt-action rifles from the 1870s to present. ... The M2 Bradley IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) and M3 Bradley CFV (Cavalry Fighting Vehicle) are American infantry fighting vehicles manufactured by BAE Systems Land and Armaments, (formerly United Defense). ... The Combat Vehicle 90 (CV90) or Stridsfordon 90 (Strf 90) is a Swedish infantry fighting vehicle designed by Hägglunds/Bofors and currently produced by BAE Systems Hägglunds. ... A grenade launcher is weapon that fires or launches a grenade to longer distances than a soldier could throw by hand. ... A hand grenade is a hand-held bomb, made to be thrown by a soldier. ...

In terms of mobility, the Spanish Pizarro is fitted with a 600 horsepower engine, while the Austrian Ulan includes a 720 horsepower engine. The smaller Spanish engine gives it a power to weight ratio of 21, and the larger engine one of 25, offering both vehicles excellent mobility. Both versions use a Renk HSWL 106C hydro-mechanical transmission, and torsion bar suspension^[13]. The Pizarro can go a maximum velocity of 70 km/h, and a maximum reverse velocity of 35 km/h^[14]. The Renk AG is a German company, has its headquarters in Augsburg and is producer of gears, other components of propulsion technology and test systems. ...

The Spanish Pizarro is designed to replace the American M113, such as the one illustrated in this photograph.

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1212x884, 201 KB) Description: M113A1 APC in Yad la-Shiryon Museum, Israel. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1212x884, 201 KB) Description: M113A1 APC in Yad la-Shiryon Museum, Israel. ... The M113 is an armored personnel carrier family of vehicles in use with the US military and many other nations. ...

Deployment History

There have been at least 112 units deployed in the Austrian Army, as well as around 143 deployed with the Spanish Army. It has been deployed to Kosovo in Operation Alfa-Romeo, where they disembarked at Durres, Albania. They have also been publically displayed during the National Day Parade in Madrid. It's very likely that they will be deployed to future UN and NATO operations throughout the world.

Variants

• Pizarro - Spanish version of the IFV
• Ulan - Austrian version of the IFV
• LT-105 Light Tank - A light tank, designed for the export market, with a 105mm gun. 15 have been sold to the Royal Thai Army. The turret was designed by General Dynamics^[15].
• VCOAV - (Vehículo de Observación Avanzada) Advanced Reconaissance Vehicle
• VCREC - Recovery vehicle
• VCZ - Engineerng vehicle

The Royal Thai Army is the army of Thailand. ...

Notes

References

Candil, Antonio J. "Spain's Armor Force Modernizes" in Armor, March 1, 1998. Fort Knox, KY: US Army Armor Center. ISSN 0004-2420.
"Quo Vadis Armour?" in Military Technology, November 1, 2003.

Army Technology
Spain's Ministry of Defence
¿INFANTERÍA MECANIZADA?
Pizarro IFV
Santa Bárbara Sistemas

External links

• Technical data sheet and pictures Spanish Pizarro from ArmyRecognition.com