Different variants of this model have already been purchased by six countries

The success story of the ASCOD armoured vehicle, derived from the Spanish Pizarro IFV

Esp 1·30·2025 · 22:00 0

Today Latvia signed a contract to complete the competition for the equipment of new infantry fighting vehicles (IFV).

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Finally, the IFV chosen by Latvia is the ASCOD, manufactured by the Spanish company GDELS-Santa Bárbara Sistemas. The contract for the acquisition of this vehicle was signed this Thursday at an event attended by the Minister of Defense of Latvia, Andris Sprūds; Major General Andis Dilans, Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Defense; and the vice president of GDELS-Santa Bárbara Sistemas, Alejandro Page Hernandez. The event was also attended by military representatives from Spain and the United States.

With this contract, Latvia confirms the acquisition of 42 infantry fighting vehicles ASCOD for an amount of 373 million euros. The contract also includes the purchase of a simulator for the training of Latvian crews, according to Andris Sprūds in a video published this morning by the Latvian Army:

The Latvian Ministry of Defence has issued a statement stating the following about the chosen model: "The infantry fighting vehicles are equipped with level 4 armour according to NATO standards, an automatic cannon, anti-tank weapons, a machine gun and other modern technology that will allow soldiers to see the battlefield. The combat vehicle has a crew of three soldiers and is capable of transporting and disembarking six soldiers in full combat gear."

The selection procedure for equipping the Latvian Army with a new infantry fighting vehicle was launched in early 2023, with an initial selection of several potential suppliers "within the framework of a comprehensive feasibility study". Functional tests of the suppliers' IFV platforms were carried out in the fall of 2023 "to obtain data on the platforms' operational capabilities", the Latvian Ministry of Defence notes.

In this programme, the results obtained were evaluated according to the operational needs of the Latvian Army, the costs of each weapon system, the available equipment, the participation of the local industry, delivery dates and other aspects. Sprūds has indicated that the Latvian industry will have a 30% participation in the manufacture of these vehicles.

"The contract for the purchase of new and modern infantry fighting vehicles marks a new stage in the mechanization of the Latvian Army's Ground Forces. At the same time, this is a major event for the Latvian military industry, which will be involved in the supply of new combat vehicles," Sprūds noted.

At the signing ceremony of this contract, Vice President of GDELS-Santa Bárbara Sistemas, Alejandro Page, stated: "We are grateful that the Latvian National Armed Forces have recognized our ASCOD infantry fighting vehicle as a winner of an international competition. We look forward to cooperating with the Latvian defense industry to jointly strengthen Latvia's military capabilities and deliver new vehicles to our customers."

With this acquisition, Latvia aims to replace its aging British CVR(T) vehicles, a family of vehicles that includes the Scimitar, Sultan, Spartan, Samson and Samaritan models. The first batch of 123 of these vehicles was purchased from the United Kingdom in 2014. Deliveries took place in 2015. In 2019, the purchase of another 82 CVR(T) vehicles was signed, a figure that was eventually reduced to 74.

The Latvian Army had the opportunity to learn about the ASCOD thanks to the Spanish Army, due to the deployment in Latvia of Pizarro infantry fighting vehicles, the model that gave rise to this family of armoured vehicles. For years, Latvian soldiers have been able to see first-hand the advantages of this vehicle, its capabilities and its advantages over models from other allied countries.

The ASCOD is currently in service with the armies of five countries. Its first operators were Spain and Austria, the countries that promoted the ASCOD programme. Austria calls its vehicles Ulan (112 in total) and in Spain they are known as Pizarro (above these lines, with 261 units in service in three variants: 204 IFV, 21 command vehicles and 36 sapper vehicles).

In 2010 the British Army selected the ASCOD for its Ajax programme (above), which includes the purchase of a total of 589 vehicles in six different variants.

In 2022, the US Army also selected the ASCOD Griffin II for its M-10 Booker light tank program (above), with 96 vehicles purchased and a further 504 planned.

In 2021 the Philippines signed with Elbit Systems the purchase of 20 ASCOD vehicles, 18 of them in the Sabrah light tank version (above these lines), a command post and a recovery vehicle.

In addition to these six operators, the ASCOD already has other potential customers. One of them is Romania, where the Spanish armored vehicle is competing with other suppliers for a contract to sell 250 vehicles. Last year the ASCOD was presented in Bucharest in a version equipped with the Trophy active protection system (above these lines), manufactured by the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

In addition, in the US, the ASCOD Griffin III has been shortlisted for the XM30 MICV program to replace the M-2 and M-3 Bradley fighting vehicles, a competition that will be resolved in 2027. Finally, Santa Bárbara Sistemas has proposed to Ukraine the manufacture of 50 ASCODs per year for its Army, currently being the vehicle most likely to win that contract.

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Imágenes: GDELS-Santa Bárbara Sistemas / Latvijas Armija / Aizsardzības Ministrijas / Andris Sprūds / General Dynamics UK / U.S. Army / Elbit Systems.

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