URO VAMTAC

The URO VAMTAC (Vehículo de Alta Movilidad Táctico, "High Mobility Tactical Vehicle") is a Spanish four-wheel drive military vehicle manufactured by UROVESA. Externally it is similar in appearance and design to the Humvee of the United States Military due to similar requirements. More than 2,000 of the vehicles have been delivered to the Spanish Armed Forces. Several other countries operate the VAMTAC as well, and it has seen in service most recently in Afghanistan and Syria. The vehicle comes in three models, named I3, S3 and ST5, and has several configurations.

The URO VAMTAC was developed by the Spanish company URO, Vehiculos Especiales S.A. so that it would meet the requirements of the Spanish military for a multipurpose, air-portable, high mobility off-road vehicle with good payload capacity.

Just as the HMMWV entered production in 1984 the Spanish army started to think of purchasing their own multirole vehicle that would replace Land Rovers.

VAMTAC concept did not materialize until 1995 when a competition was held for a next-generation tactical vehicle. The American HMMWV was also a natural candidate for several reasons. UROVESA decided to design a vehicle that could exceed the US design.

After the vehicle was tested by the Spanish Ministry of Defence, UROVESA received a five-year contract and the URO VAMTAC was produced from 1998 to 2003. In October 2005, the Ministry of Defence awarded a new five-year contract for the URO VAMTAC after a three-month trial period. This also introduced some changes, and the two models of the vehicle which were named T3 and T5, were re-designated as I3 and S3 respectively. The URO VAMTAC is similar in appearance and design to the U.S. Military's Humvee, because both vehicles were designed to meet similar requirements and specifications.

Approximately 1,200 units were delivered to the Spanish military under the initial contract from 1998. Roughly 60 percent of these were of the T5 model (later S3), and the rest were T3 (later I3). By late 2009, around 900 more units had been delivered under the second contract, bringing the total procured by Spanish forces to approximately 2,100 vehicles. All the vehicles delivered under the second contract have been of the S3 model. The military has equipped about 25 percent of the vehicles received under the initial contract with ballistic kits, increasing their armour. URO VAMTACs have been used by the Spanish National Police as well.

In April 2013, the Vamtac was selected as the chosen vehicle for all branches of the Spanish armed forces. This means they will replace HMMWVs used by Spanish Marines. A total of 772 vehicles were to be acquired over a 5-year period.

The Spanish military has used the URO VAMTAC in Afghanistan, as well in Congo and Lebanon. Several other countries use this vehicle.