Regimento Infantaria Nº 14: Operating the new Pandur II armoured vehicle

Located in the center of Portugal, in the city of Viseu, the 14th Infantry Regiment (Regimento Infantaria Nº 14) is an icconic military unit of the Portuguese Army. Nowadays, the Viriatos, as their soldiers are known, compose one of the two infantry battalions of the Brigada de Intervenção (Intervention Brigade, the medium brigade of the Portuguese Army).

This regiment is modernizing its forces and structures, namely by receiving the new family of Pandur II of wheeled armoured of vehicles. During a report with them, last February, it was possible to watch some of the field training with this new vehicles, which are being assembled in Portugal in the region of Barreiro.

A full report of the exercise has been published, this week, by the Brazilian defence website Defesa Net:

http://www.defesanet.com.br/nato/pt_viriato.htm

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Bravia Chaimite: The history of the first Portuguese-built armoured vehicle

A new article about the Chaimite armoured vehicle has been published, this time by Tankograd Militärfahrzeug, a leading publication in the area of military vehicles.

The article, fully published both in English and German, offers a comphreensive narrative of the history of the development, production and operation of this Portuguese-built vehicle which has been in operation for over almost forty years with Portuguese and foreign military and security forces. It also presents new developments and inedit photographs which complete the previous articles published by Motor Clássico. The magazine can be purchased online here.

How is it? The webpage Armorama reviews it as having "extensive technical and historical information on this seldom seen, but highly successful, Portuguese wheeled armoured vehicles" with "photographs which show the vehicle during development stage, manufacture, on training manoeuvres as well as out in the field in Kosovo in 1996. The more modern photographs are of a very high quality, while some of the older ones are a little rougher, but still useful never the less" (read the full review here).

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Brigada de Intervenção: A new combat brigade for the new century

The April issue of Fuerzas Militares del Mundo brings a comphreensive article about the Brigada de Intervenção (Intervention Brigade, the medium brigade of the Portuguese Army) focusing its structure, missions and equipments and challenges that this combat brigade, created in 2006, is facing. Special attention is given to the Pandur II armoured vehicle programme which, in the mid term, will constitute the backbone of the brigade.

MAGAZINE DISTRIBUTED IN: Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Chile, Peru and USA.

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