Brazil’s House of Representatives (Camara dos Deputados) on 4 August approved the donation of 21 armoured vehicles from Brazilian Army surplus stocks to Uruguay. The proposal, covering 10 M108 self-propelled howitzers (SPHs) and 11 Urutu Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), now goes to the Senate for ratification. Monch reported that the donation is part of the policy of international cooperation with Mercosur partner countries. Mercosur officially Southern Common Market is a South American trade bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994. Associate countries are Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname.
“The public administration has no interest in using these vehicles anymore, and can dispose of them without prejudice to the fulfilment of their constitutional duties. The proposition seeks to strengthen relations with our Mercosur partners, as well as demonstrates that the transactions will not harm our ground forces in fulfilling their constitutional duties,” explained Congressman Vinícius Carvalho.
M108 self-propelled howitzers and 11 Armoured Personnel Carriers will be delivered in their current state of conservation, and the expenses will be borne by Army Command, including the transport to the 7th Mechanized Cavalry Regiment, in Santana do Livramento (RS), where they will be delivered to the Uruguayan Army.
The M108 Howitzer is an American self-propelled 105 mm howitzer, first introduced in the early 1960s as a replacement for the M52 self-propelled howitzer. The M108 was powered by a Detroit Diesel turbocharged 8V-71T 8-cylinders 405 hp engine. The M108 can fire a wide range of 105mm ammunition with a maximum firing range of 11.5 km. The roof of the turret can be fitted with a ring mount armed with one 12.7mm heavy machine gun. It used the same hull and turret as the 155 mm M109 self-propelled howitzer, and components of the M113 armored vehicle. Brazil had a total of 72 M108AP 105mm self-propelled howitzers that were retired from Brazilian army service in 2017-2018, having been delivered to Brazil in the early 1970s as part of a batch of 72 from surplus US Army stocks.
The EE-11 Urutu is a Brazilian amphibious armored personnel carrier. It was based on the drive train and chassis components of the EE-9 Cascavel armored car and initially emerged as part of a project to develop an amphibious troop-carrying counterpart to that vehicle for the Brazilian Army and Marine Corps (CFN). The Urutu was the first fully amphibious armored vehicle developed in Brazil; it can propel itself through water at speeds of 8 km/h via twin propellers. Urutus were once operated by over thirty national armies and security forces worldwide. One hybrid variant was modified to accept the same 90 mm turret-mounted cannon as its Cascavel counterpart; this was marketed unsuccessfully to the United States Army as the Uruvel.
