The Piranha V Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) is the fifth generation variant of the Mowag Piranha family of vehicles. It was designed by General Dynamics European Land Systems - Mowag GmbH. The first prototype was completed in 2008. It was first introduced during the Eurosatory exhibition in 2010.
Development
The Piranha V was developed by General Dynamics UK and Mowag. It was designed to meet the British Army requirements of the Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) program. In 2007, it was announced that three vehicles were participating in the program: the Boxer, the VBCI, and the Piranha V.
In 2008, the Piranha V was announced as the provisional selection in the FRES program. However, no production order was announced, and the contract was subsequently cancelled in December 2008. By the end of 2008, the first prototype was finished. The vehicle was presented by GDELS at the Eurosatory exhibition in 2010, together with a new variant of the ASCOD IFV. In 2016, it was successfully loaded into an Airbus A400M cargo aircraft during an evaluation exercise in Seville.
A live firing test was conducted at Camp Rena in Norway, in 2019, with the presence of the Romanian procurement authority. The Piranha V, fitted with the Israeli UT30 MK 2 passed the series of static and dynamic shooting tests in harsh environmental conditions, exceeding the customer's requirements, as noted by GDELS.
Design
Mobility
The Piranha V is available with a MTU 6V199 TE21 diesel engine producing . Both Denmark and Spain, however, have opted for a different powerpack built by the Spanish company SAPA, consisting of a Scania Diesel engine with 480 kW coupled with the SW 624 automatic transmission, and an auxiliary power unit with 75 kW.
Protection
Standard armour (STANAG 4569, Level 4/4b) offers all-round 14.5mm AP protection and 20mm-23mm AP on front. Can offer full protection for the crew if a 10 kg explosive AT mine explodes under the hull. Add-ons can offer all-round protection to 25mm AP rounds and level 5 STANAG 4569.
Operational history
Denmark
At the end of 2015, Denmark announced the order of 308 vehicles. The first Piranhas were to arrive in 2018, with the last arriving in 2023. The Piranha V was selected as the replacement of the old M113. It was selected over the CV90, the ASCOD, and the VBCI.
The Danish Piranha V contract includes 6 different variants: infantry, command, pioneer, ambulance, repair and mortar. The first pre-production variant vehicles arrived in 2017, with the first production variants being officially handed over to the Armed Forces in March 2019. In 2020, the ambulance version was received. The vehicles were assigned to the 1st Brigade where they are to replace the Piranha III.
In 2023, the Danish Ministry of Defence announced that it selected the Skyranger 30 as part of its planned ground air defense system. The Skyranger system is to be mounted on the Piranha V platform. The integration will be performed by the Danish Terma A/S company.
Monaco
Monaco is the first operator of the Piranha V. Two vehicles were received in 2015.
Romania
In 2017, Romania signed a 900 million euro contract with General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) for the purchase and production of 227 Piranha V armored personnel carriers in Romania. The joint venture between GDELS and (UMB) also aims to provide the Piranha V to the export market in the area. Besides production, a military vehicle maintenance section will also operate at UMB.
The first batch of 36 vehicles, was produced at GDELS-Mowag's facilities in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland, 10 of which were assembled in Bucharest. The first batch included 30 vehicles in Infantry Fighting Vehicle configuration equipped with 30 mm cannons, and 6 in mobile command point configuration, and was assigned to the 26th Infantry Battalion "Neagoe Basarab", also known as the Red Scorpions, in October 2020. A second batch of 32 vehicles assembled at UMB, was received in November 2022. Another 26 Piranhas were received in different configurations, including mortar carriers, equipped with Spear MK2 120 mm mortars, ambulances, CBRN, and recovery vehicles. The rest of the vehicles will be entirely produced in Romania. On 10 February 2023, it was announced that Romania will purchase another 150 Piranha V for an estimated cost of 674 million US dollars.
In May 2023, 25 Piranhas of the 26th Infantry Battalion participated in the Anakonda 23 exercise. The Romanian soldiers carried out a 1,000 kilometer march to the Polish training grounds in Nowa Dęba where they trained together with troops from Slovenia, Poland, and the United States.