Freccia IFV
Freccia IFV
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Freccia IFV

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Freccia IFV

The VBM – Freccia is a family of 8x8 armoured vehicles that was designed and manufactured for the Italian Army by Iveco Defence Vehicles for the hull, the engine and the suspension, and OTO Melara for the armament. The first variant to be developed was the IFV, the Freccia being equipped with a Hitfist turret, the same as the one installed on the Dardo IFV.

The Italian Army was looking for a successor to some of the Cold War era M113 variants in the Italian Army, among which the VCC-1 infantry fighting vehicle, the VCC-2 armoured personnel carrier and the M106 mortar carrier.

The VCC-1 IFV [it] was replaced by the Dardo IFV. The Freccia was ordered to replace Cold War VCC-2 armoured personnel carriers of the Mechanized Brigade "Pinerolo" in Southern Italy.

A change in the doctrine for a more mobile vehicle was the reason behind the choice of a wheeled platform. And as a support to the infantry, a turret was selected to equip the successor of the VCC-2 APC variant, which increased the capabilities and the power of the infantry brigades. Some other variants such as command post vehicles, mortar carriers are also in use in the Italian Army.

Several batches have been ordered since the first one in 2006.

The VBM – Freccia is a Medium Armoured Combat Vehicle ("Veicolo Blindato Medio Freccia"). It is an up-armoured variant of the Centauro (tactical reconnaissance and tank destroyer). It was designed by Iveco Defence Vehicles and OTO Melara with their own resources in order to meet the needs of the Italian Army. A first prototype was produced in 1996. Following a long test campaign, the Italian army selected this vehicle as the winner of the competition and placed a first order for 249 vehicles in 2006. In 2021, a contract was concluded for the design of a MLU of this first generation of vehicles.

After this first batch, the Italian Army needed additional vehicles to replace the specialised variants of the M113 in service.

The electronic architecture of the vehicle is designed according to the NATO General Vehicle Architecture (NGVA) STANAG 4754. This agreement focuses on making the architecture modular, easy and less costly to adapt. Applications can be added to the multi functional control unit as plug and play. It reduces the number of application specific control units, and therefore minimises the need for space and energy. The data, power, communication, sensors, effectors are all integrated according to this architecture. One of the element of this architecture is the SICCONA C2D command, control and navigation system, which includes NEC (Network Enabled Capability).

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