Bucharest: Piranha 5 is manufactured for the Romanian Army

By Jerom Bolt
The representatives of the Government of Bucharest participated today, November 6, in the inauguration of the production and maintenance capacity for the 8×8 Piranha 5 troop carrier.
“Today, at the Bucharest Mechanical Plant, we inaugurate the production and maintenance capacity for the Piranha 5 carrier … Here these carriers representing the successful partnership between reputed companies in the international defense industry in the USA, Switzerland and Israel will be manufactured and maintained. The association between General Dynamics and the Bucharest Mechanical Plant is an example of good practice in the Romanian Army’s endowment procedure. The Piranha 5 carrier is a state-of-the-art military product, and the Romanian military deserves the best, “said PM Ludovic Orban.
The first batch of 36 Piranha 5 armored vehicles will be delivered by the end of February, National Defense Minister Nicolae Ciuca announced Wednesday. The contract involves the purchase of 227 transporters out of which 197 should be assembled in Romania at the Mechanical Plant Bucharest / UMB.
Piranha 5 carriers were contracted in January 2018 for about 895 million euros with Mowag (a Swiss company owned by the Americans from General Dynamics).
Piranha 5 is a 30 tonne armored vehicle that can carry 3 crew members and 8 soldiers. It has an engine with a power of almost 600 horses, a range of over 500 km and a speed of 100 km / h.
Spain and Denmark have also chosen the platform built by General Dynamics. In 2017, the Danes ordered over 300 Piranha 5. They paid for an armored over $ 2 million. For their part, the Spaniards ordered the first place of 348 armored part of precession to replace 1,200 vehicles.
As a weapon, Piranha 5 has a wide range of options from 12.7mm machine gun, to grenade launchers or anti-tank rockets.