Military Vehicles [Brazil]: Engesa EE-11 Urutu APC (Exército Brasileiro)

Language of Presentation: Brazillian Portuguese (Português Brasileiro)

The EE-11 Urutu is a 6×6 Armoured Personnel Carrier developed in the 70s by Engesa of Brazil. It used as many commercially available parts as possible and shares many components with the EE-9 Cascavel Armoured Fighting Vehicle, including the distinctive boomerang double-axle rear drive suspension developed by Engesa. The vehicle’s namesake of “Urutu” is a Brazilian species of snake.

EE-11 Urutu has been used in combat by Libya, Iran and Iraq with excellent results for its time. In combat, Urutu proved to be equal or superior than its Soviet counterparts, such as the BTR-60 or BTR-70 with a much lower operating cost. The Brazilian Marine Corps use a modified amphibious variant with propellers and more powerful engine.

Urutu production has stopped in 1987 and since then all units still in use by the Brazilian Army have been modernized and upgraded by the army’s São Paulo War Arsenal branch as a stopgap until the arrival of the newly designed VBTP-MR in 2012.

Although considered obsolete due to its lack of protection against modern armor piercing bullets, it is still widely used by the Brazilian Army in the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti.