To improve the mobility of the Philippine Army's Mechanized Infantry Division, as well as introduce a new model to complement and eventually replace ageing assets, the Philippine Army submitted a request for the acquisition of a new fleet of wheeled Armored Personnel Carriers (APC) to the Department of National Defense (DND).
This request was included in the Horizon 2 phase Priority Projects of the Revised AFP Modernization Program (RAFPMP) as simply the Wheeled Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) Acquisition Project of the Philippine Army.
On the third quarter of 2020, project notice of award was given to Elbit's System of Israel with their offer of Iveco VBTP-MR 6x6 Guarani, and the contract was signed last 7th of February 2021 with contract amount of $46 million. Elbit Systems confirmed that they will include turrets, electric drive and stabilisation systems, fire control systems, TORCH-X Battlefield Management Systems (BMS), E-Lynx software defined radio (SDR) systems, gunner and commander sights and life support systems.
