The new IDV M250 armored trucks of the Spanish Army in the Canary Islands

The Spanish Army has been equipping itself with various types of armored vehicles, including tactical vehicles, for years.

The Spanish Army parades in Talsi on the 35th anniversary of Latvia's independence
A Spanish military recovery vehicle Búfalo replacing the engine of a US M88

Until now, the range of armored vehicles included the VAMTAC ST-5 and IVECO LMV Lince, but not trucks. These large vehicles of various models are used for a variety of functions, from personnel and material transport to artillery ammunition, water, fuel, cranes, etc.

One of the Spanish Army's best-known trucks is the Iveco-Pegaso M250, a 10-ton 6x6 truck based on the Italian Iveco ACTL Astra. In the Army, these trucks are available in various versions: general cargo (with a box and tarpaulin cover for troop and materiel transport), crane, water tank, cistern, parts trailer, and VEMPAR (for lifting and transporting containers). The Army's M250s are built in Spain by the company MARZASA, based in Manzanares (Ciudad Real).

In the first photo of this article we can see a M250.37WM general cargo vehicle from the Brigade "Galicia" VII (BRILAT), which I photographed in Bayonne (Pontevedra) on March 25, 2012. And above these lines we see another M250.37WM from the BRILAT, also a general cargo vehicle and seen from behind, which I photographed in Pontevedra on September 7, 2016.

This Thursday, the Canary Islands Command of the Army (MCANA) has published four photos of two new armored trucks, which have been assigned to the Logistics Group XVI of the Brigade "Canarias" XVI (BRICAN). The aforementioned group is based at the "General Alemán Ramírez" Base in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Judging by the images, and according to the manufacturer's website, this would be the IDV M250WM 6x6 with armor kit (IDV is Iveco's current brand for military vehicles). The standard version of this vehicle has an unladen weight of 13 tonnes, with a gross combination weight of 45 tonnes (i.e. the weight of the vehicle plus the total load capacity).

According to the manufacturer, these trucks reach a maximum speed of 90 km/h. These are the first images I've seen of these armored M250s. The only thing I've found about this truck in an official source is a 2022 technical specifications document from the Army Logistics Support Command for the acquisition of spare parts for Iveco trucks over 10 tons. On page 13 there is a mention of a ballistic armor kit for these trucks, for an amount of 70,000 euros per unit, excluding VAT.

In any case, what we see in these MCANA photos are new trucks, not old M250s with armored kits added. If I find out more about these vehicles, I'll post it here.