ASCOD The ASCOD ( Austrian Spanish Cooperation Development ) armoured fighting vehicle family is the product of a cooperation agreement between Austrian Steyr - Daimler - Puch AG ( in 1998 the production of heavy armed vehicles was sold out under the name Steyr - Daimler - Puch Spezialfahrzeug , which is now the producer ) and Spanish Santa Bárbara Sistemas ( both companies are now divisions of a unit of General Dynamics ) . The ASCOD family includes the LT 105 , a light tank equipped with a 105 mm gun , a SAM launcher , an anti - tank missile launcher , mortar carrier , R & R vehicle , Command & Control vehicle , ambulance , artillery observer , and the AIFV model . In Spanish service the vehicle is called Pizarro , while the Austrian version is called Ulan . Development history . The ASCOD was designed to replace the older light armoured fighting vehicles of the Austrian and Spanish armies , such as the M113 armored personnel carrier . The Ulan , the Austrian version of the Pizarro , would provide a flexible complement to their heavy Leopard 2A4 . The Ulan would allow the Austrian army to deploy rapidly and effectively over longer distances , especially for foreseeable future operations - such as troubled spots for UN operations . The first prototype of the ASCOD IFV was ready and tested by 1992 and production was possible only four years later . The ASCOD was a very modern solution to bring both the Austrian and Spanish armour up to date . To put this into perspective , the Pizarro project was a part of the greater Project CORAZA ( Project Armour ) which was to replace Spain ' s M113 APCs , M60A3s , and M110 artillery pieces . A similar upgrade program was also concurrently underway in Austria . By 2005 the Austrian army was equipped with 112 Ulan vehicles and Spain with 144 ( 123 IFV and 21 C2V ) . In 2004 the Spanish Ministry of Defence ordered another 212 Pizarros ( 170 IFV , 5 C2V , 28 Artillery observation , 8 recovery , 1 Engineering vehicle ) for 707 . 5 million Euros , with up to 356 units total planned . By 2010 the cost of this second batch had increased to €845m . The ASCOD mounts a 30 mm Mauser cannon in a fully traversable electro - mechanical turret . The 30 mm cannon , stabilized on two planes , is able to fire on the move at a rate of up to 800 rounds per minute . It also carries a 7 . 62 mm machine gun as a secondary armament , carrying up to 205 rounds for the 30 mm gun and 700 for the 7 . 62 mm machine gun . This armament is comparable to that of the M2 Bradley and the CV90 , and performed well in a Norwegian vehicles trial , although it ultimately lost to the Swedish CV90 . The gun uses the Mk - 10 fire control system from Indra , which has a full solution digital ballistic computer , day channel , thermal channel and laser rangefinder . Future versions of the Mk - 10 will be fitted with a new VC2 thermal imager . The ASCOD Pizarro is also very well armoured , with a thick steel armour casing protected against up to 14 . 5 mm bullets at 500 meters , with all around protection against 7 . 62 mm ammunition . Furthermore , the turret has two grenade launcher s on either side to fire smoke grenade s . The Pizarro is also fitted with limited amounts of SABBLIR reactive armour and might be upgraded with more later . However , with appliqué steel plates fitted it can be protected against 30 mm armour - piercing discarding sabot s ( APDS ) . Additional ballistic protection is available against up to 30mm APFDS ( Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding Sabot ) rounds fired from a 1 , 000m range over the forward 60° arc , and all round protection against 14 . 5mm armour piercing incendiary ( API ) rounds from a range of 500m . In terms of mobility , the Spanish Pizarro is fitted with a engine , while the Austrian Ulan includes a engine . The smaller Spanish engine gives it a power - to - weight ratio of 21 , and the larger engine one of 25 , offering both vehicles excellent mobility . Both versions use a Renk HSWL 106C hydro - mechanical transmission , and torsion bar suspension . The Pizarro can go a maximum speed of 70 km / h , and a maximum reverse speed of 35 km / h . Currently Steyr - Daimler - Puch Spezialfahrzeuge is developing an improved version called Ulan 2 , which features the Russian BMP - 3 turret and additional armour . In June 2008 , GDELS , in conjunction with KMW , announced Donar , a medium - weight 155 mm self - propelled artillery system based on the KMW PzH 2000 artillery system integrated with the ASCOD 2 chassis . A prototype has begun mobility and firing trials in Germany . Deployment History . ASCOD entered service with the Spanish and Austrian armies in 2002 . The British army is to receive the first ASCOD SV in 2015 . To date , the ASCOD has not seen combat . Variants . ASCOD Pizarro . ASCOD Pizarro is built by Santa Bárbara Sistemas . It has multiple variants . ASCOD Ulan . ASCOD Ulan is built by Steyr - Daimler - Puch Spezialfahrzeuge . It includes a more powerful 530 kW engine , and a different fire control system built by Kollsman . ASCOD SV . ASCOD SV ( also called the ASCOD 2 SV ) is the ASCOD variant chosen for the British Army ’ s Specialist Vehicle Programme , and will be built by General Dynamics UK . The overall program has three blocks . The first , Recce Block 1 comprises four variants : These vehicles are the replacements for CVR ( T ) Scimitar , Spartan and Samson . Recce Block 2 is expected to include ambulance , engineer reconnaissance and command & control replacements for CVR ( T ) Samaritan and Sultan . The ASCOD SV is planned to include the following upgrades : The vehicle normal combat weight is 34 tonnes .