10:56 GMT, June 26, 2009 Iveco Defence Vehicles announces that on June 23, 2009 the Slovak Army and Iveco signed a contract for a batch of 10 Light Multirole Vehicles to be delivered by the end of the year.

Flavio Marchesoni, Sales & Marketing Director of Iveco Defence Vehicles said: “This contract win builds on the success of the LMV which has been selected for front line duties by 9 armies to date”.

Designed to incorporate high tactical mobility with high maximum road speed and optimal off-road and cross-country performance, the LMV has high protection levels against anti tank and anti personnel mines with an emphasis on crew protection rather than vehicle integrity. High reliability, ease of maintenance and low through life costs were key considerations during the design of LMV.

Built in and external diagnostics allow timely identification of impending malfunctions, allowing preventive maintenance to be undertaken, whilst the facility to collect functional data allows effective whole fleet management. The use of COTS (Commercial off the Shelf) main assemblies such as the gearbox and engine ensures that performance and reliability have been proven over many millions of road miles in demanding environmental conditions. This provides an outstanding level of reliability and consequently excellent fleet availability.

The LMV is suitable for numerous weapon system installations such as 7,62mm or 12.7mm remote weapon stations as well as 40mm grenade launcher and is therefore well adapted to any peacekeeping and patrol mission. The provision of anti-mine protection has also been given a high priority, with the over-riding aim being to ensure the survival of the crew. To this end, a normal control cab has been used and the results of the latest research into mine protection has been incorporated, including a vee-shaped vehicle bottom. This can be up-armoured as required to meet the appropriate level of threat. The overall structure of the vehicle has been designed in accordance with the ‘crashworthiness’ concept. The design of the vehicle itself and the materials which have been used in its construction are specifically designed to manage and absorb the blast energy generated by a mine detonation. Since the beginning of operations in Afghanistan, the high protection of the LMV has proved its worth in saving the life of the crew in many occasions.