URO VAMTAC Spanish 4x4 High-Mobility Tactical Utility Vehicle

The URO VAMTAC (Vehículo de Alta Movilidad Táctico, "High Mobility Tactical Vehicle") is a Spanish four-wheel drive military vehicle manufactured by the 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 service most recently in Afghanistan and Syria. The vehicle comes in two models, named I3, S3 and ST5, and has several configurations. The VAMTAC is available in a number of variants with different body types. The main forms are pick-up, command/control and chassis-cab. Pick-up and chassis-cab variants are available with two-door, four-door or reduced size four-door version. The chassis-cab variant is used to mount a vide variety of shelters, or cargo bodies. The command/control variant has four-doors and cargo area, covered with soft, or sloping hard top. Open top models are available. 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 Defense, UROVESA received a five-year contract and the URO VAMTAC was produced from 1998 to 2003. In October 2005, the Ministry of Defense 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.