EE-18 Sucuri

   The EE-18 Sucuri was developed by Engesa in 1987. It is a further development of the EE-17 Sucuri. The EE-18 is sometimes referred as the Sucuri II. Vehicle has a number of automotive components of the EE-9 Cascavel armored reconnaissance vehicle. Unfortunately Engesa went into bankruptcy in 1993 and the EE-18 has not reached production.

   The EE-18 was developed to defeat tanks and other armored vehicles.

   Hull and the turret are welded from composite armor. Frontal armor protects from 20-25 mm projectiles. All-round protection is against small-arms fire and artillery splinters only. NBC protection system was not offered as standard.

   The previous EE-17 Sucuri (sometimes referred ad the Sucuri I)  was fitted with complete turret of the French AMX-13 light tank. It had 105-mm gun, fitted with an autoloader. However the EE-17 was not selected for production and this tank destroyer was entirely redesigned.

   The EE-18 was a new design, fitted with a fully-stabilized Italian OTO Melara 105-mm gun, which could fire standard NATO munitions. Vehicle is fitted with modern fire control system. It's armor-piercing round can penetrate 150-mm of armor at 5 000 meters range.

   Secondary armament consists of coaxial 7.62-mm machine gun and 12.7-mm MG, positioned on top of the roof.

   Vehicle has a crew of four, including commander, gunner, driver and loader. Crew enter and leave the vehicle through the rear doors, that are also used to load ammunition.

   The EE-18 Sucuri is powered by the Saab-Scania DSI-11 diesel engine, developing 380 horsepower. It has a boomerang-type rear suspension, similar to that, used on other Engesa vehicles. Such suspension offers good cross-country performance. Vehicle is also fitted with a centralized tyre pressure system.