Essential strategic capacity for national defense
The objective of the VCR8x8 Dragon Program is to obtain an 8×8 Wheeled Combat Vehicle to replace the MRAPs (RG-31 and LINCE), M1 BMRs, M1 VECs and part of the TOAs fleet, incorporating new technical solutions to face the evolution of threats, taking into account both the experience accumulated by other countries around Spain, which have this type of vehicles, and the adaptation of the solution to the organic structure of the Spanish Army.
With this objective in mind, the Ministry of Defense, through the Spanish General Directorate of Armament and Material (DGAM), initiated several years ago a series of technological programs whose objective was to reduce the risks associated with the development and acquisition of a vehicle with advanced characteristics, as well as to enable the national industry to play a leading role in the future supply of the VCR8x8 Dragon and its most critical subsystems, both technologically and operationally.
The development of these technological programs was entrusted to GDELS Santa Bárbara Sistemas S.A., Indra Sistemas S.A. and SAPA Operaciones S.L. The demonstrators built within these programs allowed these companies to mature the technologies necessary to address the challenge of executing the serial production phase of the VCR8x8 Dragon Program. These capabilities were further complemented by the design authority of Escribano Mechanical and Engineering S.L. on the armament subsystem, which is why the four companies agreed to form a national group of companies with sufficient industrial and technological capacity to cover all phases of the life cycle of the system.
Thus, a new company, TESS Defence, was created to capitalize on the experience of its partners, relying on their strengths and resources, to lead the industrial effort in the next phases of the VCR8x8 Dragon Program.
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