TESS Defence delivers the 100th Dragón 8x8
The delivery rate achieved by TESS Defence has more than doubled in just nine months, while work has reached a solid level of industrial maturity thanks to the full cooperation of the partners and under the leadership of TESS and Indra
The Dragón 8x8 Wheeled Combat Vehicle (VCR) ranks among the most advanced vehicles in its class in terms of safety, tactical mobility, firepower and deployability, standing out particularly for its level of interoperability and digitalisation
This next-generation platform delivers technological superiority on the ground and a strong capacity to adapt to the scenarios that will emerge over the coming decades
TESS Defence, a company led by Indra, with GDELS-Santa Bárbara, SAPA and EM&E as partners, today delivered a new batch of VCR 8x8 vehicles to the Ministry of Defence at an event held at the Alcalá de Guadaíra plant in Seville, bringing the number of Dragón 8x8 Wheeled Combat Vehicles delivered to 100.
During the event, the efforts of the entire industrial supply chain to meet the programme’s commitments and ensure customer satisfaction with the final result were highlighted. The acceleration achieved in the vehicle delivery rate provides full confidence in meeting the new challenges and delivering the 348 units planned by the end of 2028.
In the first six months of this year, TESS Defence doubled its 2025 delivery rate, delivering 43 units. With the 100th unit, the programme is accelerating the pace even further and consolidating its industrial maturity.
To achieve this, Indra has committed to fostering internal collaboration among the TESS Defence partners and increasing national industrial capacity, strengthening Spain’s defence industrial base, technological sovereignty and the Army’s autonomy, and thereby helping to ensure agile and flexible support for the VCR 8x8 and future Spanish Army platforms.
Meanwhile, the Spanish Legion Brigade in Viator and Engineer Regiment No. 1 in Burgos already have a sufficient number of vehicles to conduct tests under conditions similar to those of a real operation, with the aim of achieving the vehicle’s initial operational capability by the end of the year. The entry into service of the Dragón will represent a major technological leap in the transformation and digitalisation of the Spanish Army, as set out in the Force 35 Plan. This platform delivers levels of protection, tactical mobility and firepower far above those offered by other vehicles on the market, as well as maximum interoperability and growth potential to incorporate future technologies rapidly. Its open architecture and high level of digitalisation set the platform apart and enable it to integrate advanced artificial intelligence and multidomain collaborative combat solutions, which are key to providing the Spanish Army with genuine superiority on the ground.