Dardo infantry fighting vehicle

The Dardo is a tracked infantry fighting vehicle designed for the Italian Army as a replacement for the M113 armoured personnel carrier. It was designed and built by the Iveco Fiat Oto Melara Syndicated Company based in Rome, with Iveco responsible for the hull and propulsion systems and Oto Melara for the weapons and fire control. The hull is welded aluminium alloy with add-on steel armour plates, protecting the front against 25 mm projectiles and the sides against 14.5 mm armour piercing rounds. It is armed with a 25 mm Oerlikon KBA automatic cannon and two 7.62 mm machine guns, and is powered by an Iveco V6 turbocharged diesel engine of 512 hp (382.2 kW), which gives it speeds in excess of 70 km/h. About 200 vehicles serve with the Italian Army, which deployed them to Iraq in 2004 and to Afghanistan.