AGILIS 8x8 is an amphibious armored personnel carrier that will be developed by Romanian Military Vehicle Systems, a joint venture between Uzina Automecanica Moreni of Romania and Rheinmetall of Germany.

On june 14, 2017, Romanian Military Vehicle Systems (RMVS) was founded. The new company, a joint venture between Automecanica Moreni and Rheinmetall, will develop and manufacture the new AGILIS 8x8 armored personnel carrier.

Automecanica Moreni is a subsidiary of the state owned Romarm defence corporation. Romarm owns a research institute and 15 factories and is under the authority of Romanian Ministry of Economy.

Both the Romanian Ministry of Economy and the German Rheinmetal Landsysteme GmbH, will each hold 50% of RMVS share capital.

The new 8x8 wheeled APC will be developed and manufactured at the Automecanica Moreni plant. The intellectual property rights over the AGILIS armoured personnel carrier will be fully owned by the Romanian state.

What we know so far about the AGILIS 8x8 APC

The first informations about the new Romanian 8x8 armored personnel carrier project, were posted on Romania Military website, who also announced the name of the new carrier for the first time.

AGILIS 8x8 will be an amphibious armored personnel carrier that will be produced in a total of 400 units for the Romanian Land Forces. Also, the future Romanian APC will be available for export.

It is expected that the first carrier will be delivered in 2020 and the last one in 2029. The newly established Romanian Military Vehicle Systems will ensure maintenance work throughout the life of the vehicle until 2055.

Rendering of two AGILIS 8x8 armored personnel carriers Rendering of two AGILIS 8x8 armored personnel carriers. Source: Rheinmetall via hotnews.ro

The hull of the vehicle will be made by Uzina Automecanica Moreni and will be based on protection solutions developed by engineers from Military Equipment and Technologies Research Agency (METRA) (Ro: Agenția de cercetare pentru Tehnică și Tehnologii Militare - ACTTM).

In 2014, ACTTM tested in polygon an armored carrier hull, within the "Transportorul blindat pentru trupe (TBT) 8x8" (En: "8x8 Armored Personnel Carrier") program. The prototype was tested at the explosion of 8 kg of TNT, the hull providing a level of protection to mines of STANAG 4569 level 3A under the wheel and 3B under the chassis.

After testing the vehicle's behavior to the explosion of 8 kg of TNT, it seems that the prototype was also tested to the explosion of 10 kg of TNT, passing the test with success, thus obtaining a level of protection at mines of STANAG 4569 level 4A below the wheel and 4B under the chassis.

The engine and the driveline will be imported, and the rest of the components, representing an approximate 87% will be produced in Romania.

The new AGILIS 8x8 APC will be powered by an 612 PS Liebherr R6 diesel engine with a ZF automatic gearbox and it will be capable of reaching a speed of over 100 km/h. It will have an operational range of over 800 km.

AGILIS 8x8 will come in 6 variants:

01. APC variant: The standard version will be equipped with a remote 30 mm cannon, the crew consisting of driver, commander, gunner and 7 soldiers.

02. Command Post variant: this variant will be equipped with a complete C4I system (Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence) and the crew will be reduced to 7 people including the driver, the commander and 5 fighters.

03. Medevac variant: provided with medical equipment these vehicles are used to evacuate the wounded on (from) the battlefield. They are equipped with stretchers and the crew consists of driver, commander and 2 medical staff.

04. CBRN variant: although all variants of the carrier provide CBRN protection (Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense), this specialized version will be equipped with sensors for the detection of chemical agents, biological agents and radioactive substances. The crew will consist of driver, commander and two operators.

05. Repair variant: this version will be equipped with a 5 tonne crane with a 3 m long arm. The hydraulic winch is equipped with 2 drums with 2 x 11 tons traction force.

06. Mortar Carrier variant: this version is equipped with a 120 mm mortar and the crew consists of driver, commander and 2 operators.

AGILIS 8x8 armored personnel carrier variants AGILIS 8x8 variants. Source: Rheinmetall via hotnews.ro

Features:

- Protection against mines, IEDs and small caliber firearms - Extensible modular protection system - Independent suspension

Armament:

- Remote weapon station equiped with a 30 mm gun with up to 150 rounds/minute - 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun with 400 rounds/minute - Separate optic systems for the commander

From the specifications made public, it was not mentioned what weight AGILIS will have, but it is expected to weigh between 25 and 30 tons, considering that it will be equipped with a turret.

A similar Automecanica Moreni - Rheinmetall agreement was also signed between Uzina Mecanica Bucuresti and GDELS. The agreement stipulates for the acquisition by Romania of a number of 227 heavy Piranha 5 carriers that will rather fulfill the role of infantry fighting vehicles.

The first 36 armored carriers of the the 227 will enter the Romanian Land Forces service in 2018, of which the first 30 will be manufactured in Switzerland and the last six at the Bucharest Mechanical Plant. The remaining 191 Piranha V vehicles will also be manufactured at the Bucharest plant in the years to come.

Possible 4x4 variant

In addition to the 8x8 wheeled armored personnel carriers, in the years to come, the romanian army will launch a program to acquire 400 4x4 wheeled APCs to replace the old ABC-79M (TABC-79).

Both RMVS and UMB - GDELS have shown interest in this contract. It remains to be seen which of these consortiums will provide the future 4x4 armoured personnel carrier to the Romanian Land Forces. The most likely the candidates will be the 4x4 versions of both AGILIS and Piranha 5.

In addition to choosing only one of these possible models, there is also a third option, to order 200 units from each of the two manufacturers.

The AGILIS armored personnel carrier program is one of the steps taken by Romania to revitalize it's armaments industry. Starting up the amphibious APC production at the Moreni plant will generate 600 new jobs.