Indra and its consortium partners are confident that the first 8x8 armored vehicles will be operational this year, ABC reports. The Tess Defence consortium is led by Indra and includes GDELS-Santa Bárbara Sistemas, EM&E and Sapa Placencia.
The Spanish Army has received a new batch of 16 8x8 vehicles from the consortium, raising total deliveries to 100. That delivery has triggered preparations for the model's first operational exercise, which will involve 60 of the vehicles before the end of the year.
According to ABC, the figure represents an industrial advance for the program. For the Army, the next decisive step will be converting the availability of the vehicles into operational capability.
ABC reports that the milestone opens the door to an exercise simulating real combat conditions in the Tactical Group.