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Armadillo armored personnel carrier (VBTP)

The military has a munitions factory, the Fabrica de Munciones, which manufactures small arms ammunition and assembles the Galil rifle under license. The military produced an indigenous armored fighting vehicle (AFV), the Armadillo, designed and built in 1981 in response to difficulties in obtaining American made military vehicles due to the ongoing civil war. It was inspired by the Cadillac Gage Commando and essentially an improvement of the Cadillac Gauge Commando. The thirty (30) "Armadillo" armored personnel carriers (VBTP) that were manufactured in the 80s, were distributed to the different military units of the Republic.

The “Armadillo” Armored Personnel Carrier (TBP - «Transporte Blindado de Personal») multipurpose light armored vehicle (VBLM - vehículo blindado liviano multipropósito) was designed to transport personnel quickly and safely to the combat area, as close to the enemy, as the situation allows. , with a minimum of wear and tear on personnel, giving them the protection against small-caliber weapons, provided by the armored armor; with an armament system that allows it to repel attacks from a distance and with a communications system that allows it to have continuous contact with friendly units.

In 1981, the Cavalry Colonel DEM was head of the War Material Service. JUAN FRANCISCO AGUILAR OLIVA, thought about the manufacture of an armored vehicle similar to the Cadillac Gage Commando Armored Vehicle V-100 of American Manufacture. The idea arose after the US Government took away military aid from Guatemala; Initially, they manufactured a prototype of the V-100 Vehicle in wood, this being the first step to start the manufacture of the first “Armadillo” Lightweight Multipurpose Vehicle (VBLM). In the month of October of that same year, said manufacture began, which occurred without having a real or scientific basis, there was no planning, so it can be said that it was empirically by Guatemalan hands, within the armed institution, the Armadillo is part of the identity of the Guatemalan army. It took between nine and ten months to successfully complete the manufacture of the first vehicle, for which armored material from abroad was essential.

The labor that was used for this project was four specialists who worked fully in the cutting, assembly, assembly and polishing of the different systems and assemblies, as well as in the different services of the war material workshops. , each in their specialty, such as Lathes, Electromechanics, Painting, Upholstery and Carpentry. They called the first Armadillo “PUMA 01” and their first road test was carried out on the road from Ipala to Chiquimula, which is a dirt road, where initially there were defects of broken strips, overheating due to the excessive weight that the vehicle had, this first vehicle could not go more than 100 km / h. Subsequently, the manufacture of a second vehicle began, with the modifications and improvements made to the first.

In February 1983, the Armadillos Armored Vehicle Production Department was officially inaugurated, with the endorsement of the General Staff of the National Defense, hiring for this department twenty-five more places, distributed in different sections; the welders were hired directly from civilian life, due to the lack of them within the service.

With these personnel within the Department, the serial manufacture of three more vehicles began, to complete five, which when completed, went on to form the first Armored Squad of the 1715 Quetzaltenango Military Zone. Another five vehicles were manufactured and sent to Military Zone No. 19 Huehuetenango, where they formed the second Armored Squadron. It was not until fifteen Armadillos had been manufactured that, with the collaboration of a technical calculator from the Corps of Engineers, the development of plans for the entire vehicle began, so that its manufacture was standard and they came out as identical as possible, with this format already made, the vehicles were becoming more orderly in their production, in the same way, the measurements were more exact and their different systems were already better located and their operation was at an optimal level. In total, thirty Armadillos were manufactured, which were distributed among military zone No. 23 Peten, military zone No. 22 Playa Grande Quiche, military zone No. 12 Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa, Escuintla. vehicles, for the command policies and for the signing of the peace that took place in the country at the end of 1996.

It can be used as a combat vehicle, convoy escort, riot control, mobile command post in reconnaissance missions or evacuation of wounded. The hull is entirely constructed of internally and externally electrowelded ballistic steel plates, located at different angles to make it less vulnerable to direct impacts from the vehicle. The peepholes or viewers are made of a transparent, ballistic material, made up of two faces; the external face composed of six (06) layers of tempered glass and the internal face of a ballistic plastic called "LEXGARD".