Italian Company IVECO Defence Vehicles displays its new generation of 8x8 amphibious armored vehicle SUPERAV at FEINDEF 2021, Defense Exhibition in Spain.

IVECO Defence Vehicles displays its new 8x8 amphibious armored vehicle at FEINDEF 2021, a defense exhibition in Spain. (Picture source Army Recognition)

In September 2011, IVECO Defence Vehicles has signed an agreement with BAE Systems to offer a proposal based on the SUPERAV to the USMC for its Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) 1.1 program. In June 2018 IVECO has been awarded the contract to deliver its amphibious platform to the US Marine Corps in partnership with BAE Systems.

The SUPERAV is an 8x8 amphibious armored vehicle able to operate in and over sea state 3. The vehicle is motorized with an IVECO Cursor 16 6L turbocharged multi-fuel diesel engine developing 700 hp coupled to an Allison 4800 SP automatic transmission. SUPERAV’s high fuel and on-board water capacity ensure that the vehicle is capable of undertaking operations across substantial distances, with a range of 800 km on land, and 65 km in amphibious mode.

The SUPERAV is fully amphibious and propelled in the water at a maximum speed of 10km/h by two propellers mounted to the rear on each side of the hull.

The SUPERAV can accommodate up to 16 soldiers including a driver, gunner and commander and 13 troops. has a length of 8.92 m, a maximum width of 3.2 m, and a height of 2.9 m. It has a gross combat weight of around 30 tons.

The hull of the SUPERAV provides high levels of protection against the firing of small arms fire, artillery shell splinters, mine, and IED threats without limiting its amphibious capability. To increase its protection, the vehicle can be fitted with add-on armor kits. Survivability is further enhanced with onboard fire fighting and anti-explosion systems.

A wide range of weapon stations can be mounted on the SUPERAV that can be armed with weapons up to 40mm caliber. It can adopt various weapon systems including remotely controlled stations and manned turrets.