Brazil to Modernize Cascavel Armored Vehicles

The Brazilian Army has signed a contract with Consórcio Força Terrestre, a consortium formed by local companies, for the modernization of EE-9 Cascavel M VII 6×6 armored reconnaissance vehicles.

Valued $14.2 million, the contract to upgrade nine vehicles was signed on July 7, Janes reported today, citing Director of the Manufacturing Directorate General Tales Eduardo Areco Villela.

Consortium members, Akaer Engenharia, Opto Tecnologia Optrônica, and Universal – Importação, Exportação e Comércio – are tasked with developing two prototypes and seven pilot batch vehicles, he added.

A spokesperson for Akaer Engenharia told the outlet that work on the first prototype will start in the third quarter of 2022. Deliveries of the vehicle to the armed forces will take place in the third quarter of 2023.

The Brazilian army launched a request for information to modernize its fleet of EE-9 Cascavel 6x6 armored vehicles. The program foresees the modernization of 98 to 201 vehicles for a period of eight years. The main goal of this modernization is to equip the EE-9 Cascavel of the Brazilian army with new a firing control system, a ballistic computer, implementation of an electrical turret rotation system that can be controlled by the commander. This upgrade will not include new armor for the vehicle, Army Recognition reported citing InfoDefensa.

The EE-9 Cascavel was developed by Brazilian company Engensa. The serial production of the EE-9 began in 1974 with the first production vehicles being delivered the same year to the Brazilian army.

The EE-9 Cascavel is based on a 6x6 truck chassis, a rigid axle, connected to the hull by double leaf springs and telescopic dampers, which holds two lateral walking beams. The vehicle has a crew of three including a driver seated at the front of the hull on the left side, commander, and gunner in the turret.

The EE-9 Cascavel is fitted with a two-man turret mounted in the center of the hull, which is armed with a 90mm cannon able to fire HE (High Explosive), HEAT (High-explosive anti-tank), HESH (High-explosive squash head), Smoke White Phosphorus (Smoke WP-T) and HEAT (High-explosive anti-tank) Target Practice. A 90 mm Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) round was also developed and placed in production in Brazil.

The EE-9 Cascavel is powered by a Detroit Diesel 6V-53N 6-cylinder water-cooled diesel developing 212 hp at 2,800 rpm coupled to an Allison Transmission MT-643 automatic with 4 forward and 1 reverse gears. The vehicle can run at a maximum road speed of 100 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 880 km.