Designed for sea operation in Sea State 2 and beyond, the new SUPERAV 8x8 is a medium weight vehicle capable of maintaining its amphibious capability even at high protection levels. A 500HP engine coupled to an automatic gearbox, a twin-shaft driveline design and fully independent suspension give it impressive mobility on any terrain. It can carry up to 12 dismounts plus the driver, and features advanced protection against direct fire, shell splinters, landmines and IEDs.

The amphibious model has a combat weight of 24 tonnes but if required, this can be increased to 28 tonnes by removing the amphibious capability. Various weapon systems can be mounted on the roof up to a turret-mounted 30mm cannon.

BAE Systems and Iveco Defence Vehicles have signed a licensing agreement to form the basis of a business arrangement for the pursuit of the U.S. Marine Corps Personnel Carrier (MPC) programme, with a vehicle based on the SUPERAV 8x8. The MPC is designed to fill the medium-armour ground vehicle gap and complements the capabilities of the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV). It will be a flexible and highly mobile asset for the Marines that will be well protected, sustainable, networked and include a strong swimming capability. Both BAE Systems and Iveco Defence Vehicles have extensive experience across a range of mine-protected and armoured vehicles, including several 8x8 models. This breadth of experience positions the team to jointly address the specific requirements of the MPC programme.

As a result of this outstanding design flexibility, many variants are available including:

• Personnel Carrier

• Combat

• Anti Tank

• Mortar Carrier

• Recovery

• Ambulance

• Engineering

• Command Post

• depending on specific to customer requirements.

The SUPERAV Iveco Defence Vehicle can be equipped with weapon systems up to 40mm calibre.

The SUPERAV design exploits the lessons learnt from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, with the innovative chassis and hull design providing high levels of protection against both mine and IED attack without compromising the vehicle’s amphibious performance. By designing in survivability from the outset, Iveco’s engineers have ensured that, even at the lower GVWs available, SUPERAV has the highest protection in its class. Survivability is enhanced by a series of design innovations, including high performance on board fire fighting and anti-explosion systems. An area in which Iveco has acquired considerable expertise, and from which SUPERAV benefits, is the installation of appliqué passive and active protection systems without noticeably changing the vehicle’s profile. This has the considerable benefit of ensuring that an enemy cannot tell what level of protection a given vehicle is carrying.

The vehicle’s engine and drive-line were selected to provide the benefits of a COTS high rate production system which is both highly reliable and particularly well suited to this application, being derived from the battle proven Centauro vehicle family. SUPERAV’s high fuel and on-board water capacity ensure that the vehicle is capable of undertaking operations across substantial distances, with a 500 mile range on land, and 40 miles in amphibious mode. This outstanding operational mobility is complimented by the vehicle’s tactical mobility and terrain accessibility, enhanced by a Central Tyre Inflation System and run-flats all round. The drive-line's H-shaped configuration provides redundancy (with 2 lateral shafts), simplicity in structure (1 differential instead of 4) and robustness. Additionally, the H shape provides intrinsic ABS functionality to the vehicle. The independent hydraulic suspension units allow the driver to vary the ride height within given parameters, enabling him to tilt the vehicle for loading and unloading payload, level the vehicle while firing in a sloped terrain and reduce height to fi t readily into a C130.

On relevant variants of SUPERAV, a hydraulically controlled rear ramp allows rapid access and egress. The air conditioning system allows the vehicle to operate in climatic conditions between -32°C to + 49°C. NBC filtration is provided by a continuously monitored internal overpressure, with air coming out from both common filtered air outlets and individual tubes which can be connected to personal respirators.