VAMTAC SK-95, closely reviewing the new artillery truck of the Spanish Army

@DefAviation ES 7·05·2023 · 22:16 0

In August 2022, the VII "Galicia" Brigade (BRILAT) became the first Army unit to receive the new VAMTAC SK-95.

VAMTAC SK-95: this is the new light artillery truck of the Spanish Army
The light weapons of the Spanish Army: a first-hand review

The receiving unit was, specifically, the VII Field Artillery Group (GACA VII) of said Brigade, based in Pontevedra and whose 2nd Battery was the Army pilot unit to test this vehicle. As you could already see last year in Defense and Aviation article about this truck, BRILAT received 12 VAMTAC SK-95 in two versions: 6 weapon carriers with cabin double (whose purpose is to tow the light howitzers L-118 Light Gun of 105 mm) and another 6 personnel transport with simple cabin.

On June 4, BRILAT organized an exhibition of materials in Alameda de Pontevedra , on the occasion of Armed Forces Day. There was an L-118 Light Gun on display, and outside the compound, parked on the street, was the VAMTAC SK-95 towing it. It is a pity that the truck was not included in the exhibition, since it was the great novelty of this year. However, being on the street and having less people around him, I was able to photograph him with much more freedom. I have uploaded the photos to my Flickr account, and you can see some of them here.

As you can see, the truck in the photos is one of the six of the weapon-carrying version that the GACA VII has, that is, with a double walk to transport the artillery piece's servers.

This weapons-carrying version can carry six soldiers in its double cabin, including the driver of the vehicle. At the back there is a box fitted with a canvas, for ammunition, utensils and equipment.

The truck looks small, but it's not that small, as you can see in this image, which allows us to compare it with a Santana Aníbal (the national version of the famous Land Rover Defender).

The truck is designed to be able to haul light artillery pieces through rugged places, a terrain in which the Galician company that manufactures it, Urovesa, has a lot of experience, which has been manufacturing all kinds of trucks and others for 42 years off-road vehicles used for various purposes.

Here we can see the front, with a mirror on the windshield, to offer more viewing angles to the driver.

The truck has been built on the chassis of the VAMTAC ST-5, the all-terrain tactical vehicle currently used by the Spanish Army and Marine Corps. Curiously, although Urovesa presented this truck like "SK95", on the sides of the cab there are small signs that say "VAMTAC ST5".

Here we can see the driver's side in the cabin, equipped with two rear-view mirrors. On the door appears the shield of the BRILAT (a goshawk with the Cross of Burgundy) and the reference to GACA VII.

At the end of the BRILAT exhibition, the SK-95 entered the Alameda to engage the L-118. Here we can see the hooking process.

A detail of the front of the SK-95, in which the winch hook can be seen in the center and the metal grills that protect its headlights, as well as the rings to lift the vehicle with slings, since either with a crane or with a helicopter.

In this photo we can see the side hatch of the rear box. Iveco-Pegaso M.250.37WM artillery trucks of the Spanish Army (carried by the Santa Bárbara Sistemas 155/52 heavy howitzers) also have something like this on both sides of its box. The SK-95 only has this gate on the right side of the box.

The L-118 already attached to the SK-95. It is a truck with the perfect size to drag these pieces of light artillery.

I hope these photos are useful to modelers and, in general, to fans of military vehicles. I take this opportunity to thank the BRILAT soldiers for the kindness with which they treated us at the exhibition, and the holy patience they had to endure the photo session we did for them when they dismantled it, without issuing not a single complaint.