Written by Johannes Krause

In 2019, the Dutch Ministry of Defence (MoD) entered into a contract with the Italian manufacturer IVECO Defence Vehicles to supply the various branches of the Dutch military with a new infantry mobility vehicle, the Manticore, a medium tactical vehicle (MTV) (Defense Brief, 2022). The contract between the Dutch MoD and Iveco was signed in the context of the MoD’s effort to force modernisation, more specifically, its Joint Replacement Programme of Wheeled Vehicles (Valpolini, 2021). The Dutch MoD recently unveiled the first example of the Manticore. This reveal was greatly anticipated by defence analysts, as Iveco won the initial contract through a so-called “paper vehicle.” Thus, when the Dutch MoD awarded Iveco the contract, the manufacturing was still in its very early stages of design, with no prototype available, a circumstance that is “quite rare in the defence world.” However, it should be noted that Iveco had already unveiled a version of its vehicle at the International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi in 2021 (Richardson, 2021).

Initially, Iveco aimed at designing the Manticore to have a payload of around 1,200kg (Peruzzi & Valpolini, 2019). However, more recent reports suggest that the version of the vehicle supplied to the Dutch Military will be able to shoulder “a payload of around 2,000kg” (Defense Brief, 2022). Moreover, it has been reported that the Manticore will be able to “reach a maximum speed of 90 km/h” and that it is equipped with a “NEF67 EUIII diesel engine.”

The Dutch Military will receive five variants of the Manticore, which will be distributed among its various branches. Two of the variants are intended for combat. The first is equipped with a Hard Top and the option to be “armed with a remote controlled weapon station (RCWS), 130 of which will also be delivered by Iveco” (Defense Brief, 2022). The second combat variant will come with a Soft Top and is likely to be used mainly by special forces (Valoponi, 2021). In addition to the two combat variants, IVECO has also devised “a logistics, medical transport, and a military police variant” (Defense Brief, 2022). It has further been reported that Iveco has given the Dutch MoD the option to include armour packages “both for ballistic and antimine protection” and that the vehicles can, in principle, be outfitted with a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) filtration system.

In total, the Dutch MoD expects to receive 1,185 vehicles by 2028. Once operational, the new Manticore vehicles will be used to replace the “Mercedes Benz 290GD […] as well as the YPR-765 A1 infantry fighting vehicle” (Defence Brief, 2022).

Bibliography

Defense Brief. (2022, April 23). Dutch military unveils new Manticore tactical vehicle. Defense Brief. https://defbrief.com/2022/04/23/dutch-military-unveils-new-manticore-tactical-vehicle/

Valpolini, P. (2021, February 21). First international appearance of Iveco DV’s Medium Tactical Vehicle. European Defence Review. https://www.edrmagazine.eu/first-international-appearance-of-iveco-dvs-medium-tactical-vehicle

Peruzzi, L., & Valpolini, P. (2019, November 28). The Netherlands sign a contract for 918 12kN vehicles with Iveco Defence Vehicles. European Defence Review. https://www.edrmagazine.eu/the-netherlands-sign-a-contract-for-918-12kn-vehicles-with-iveco-defence-vehicles

Richardson, J. (2021). Iveco Defence Vehicles at IDEX 2021. European Security & Defence. https://euro-sd.com/2021/02/headline/21441/iveco-idex-2021/