Designed to offer high tactical mobility along with high maximum road speed and optimal off-road and cross-country performance, the light multirole vehicle (LMV) provides high protection levels against anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, with the emphasis on crew protection rather than vehicle integrity. The inherent stealthy design ensures low probability of detection from optical, thermal imaging or radar sensors.
The LMV was selected for front-line duties by the Italian, British, Spanish, Norwegian, Belgian, Croatian, Czech and Austrian forces. Since the beginning of operations in Afghanistan, the LMV, called Lynx by the Italian army, has proven to be a life-saver on numerous occasions.
23 March 2009
An Italian military vehicle was involved in the explosion of a car bomb. Not one of the Italian soldiers was injured.
A statement released by Ufficio Generale del Capo di Stato Maggiore of the Italian army said: “This morning at 2pm local time (10.30am in Italy) in the area of Shindad, in the province of Herat, a car bomb exploded when a convoy of Italian vehicles of the operational mentoring liaison team (OMLT) was passing by. While the protected vehicle Lynx was damaged, not one of the Italian soldiers was injured.”
18 October 2008
Following an ambush at Herat, five Italian soldiers were injured.
According to http://www.lastampa.it the attack occurred on the road to the Italian base. The convoy was moving when a suicide attacker ran a car loaded with explosives and tried to hit one of the armoured vehicles. It was the high level of protection of the armoured Lynx that saved the lives of the five Italian soldiers.
It was reported on http://www.corriere.it that: “The high level of protection of the Lynx, and also much luck, prevented a massacre among the Italian soldiers based in Herat. Yesterday, at about 8am local time, a convoy of armoured Lynx was driving about 1.5km from Herat Airport, where the Italian headquarters are located, when a suicide car bomber, waiting at the roadside, raced off between the first two vehicles and exploded. The vehicle protection proved effective in resisting the attack.”
19 September 2008
In Afghanistan, following a bomb attack against the Italians, a soldier was injured.
According to www.ansa.it an explosive device struck an Italian convoy in western Afghanistan. The report said: “The armoured vehicle Lynx resisted the attack. According to the initial report, not one of the soldiers was seriously injured. Only one of them was lightly wounded. The attack occurred about 5km south west of Akazai village, in the province of Badghis, western Afghanistan.
“The Lynx armoured vehicle of the company Demoni was struck by a device (Ied) at the roadside. The explosion seriously damaged the vehicle. One of the soldiers was lightly injured. The Demoni convoy had left its base in Bala Morghab early in the morning and was heading back at the end of its mission.”
7 September 2008
Following a Kamikaze attack against Italians in Afghanistan, no soldiers were injured.
According to http://www.unita.it “a suicide attack struck an Italian convoy in Herat. Not one of the soldiers was injured”.
Colonel Abisso said: “The vehicle resisted the attack, and even though it was seriously damaged, protected its four passengers.”
3 September 2008
On 3 September 2008, shortly after 12pm local time, an attack was carried out against the Iveco LMV vehicles of the SOG military police in Afghanistan. None of the soldiers were seriously injured.
According to Major Jana Ruzickova, the vehicle was part of a patrol that included US, French and Afghan troops in the Mohammad Agha district. On the way back to headquarters one of the vehicles was struck by an IED positioned on the civilian road. The explosion damaged the rear of the vehicle. Not one of the three soldiers in the vehicle was seriously injured. The incident is under investigation.
10 July 2008
Following an ambush in Afghanistan, two Italian soldiers were injured.
According to http://www.lastampa.it the attack “occurred at 7.45pm, when the Italian vehicle, on its way back to headquarters, was about 7km from its destination. The explosion may have been caused by a device placed at the roadside or, more probably, a rocket-propelled grenade shot against the vehicle”.
The report said: “At Herat, where the Italian detachment is based, the situation could have been critical. A vehicle, the Lynx, equipped with a special anti-mine protection at the bottom, was struck by the explosion.
“The two armoured vehicles of the Italian army were on patrol duty to guarantee the safety of the Herat base. It was a fulminous ambush. The Taliban’s shots were fired from a Kalashnikov and an RPG launcher. An RPG may have struck one of the two Lynx, which resisted the attack. The impact, or perhaps some of the splinters, injured two soldiers of the 16/0 Stormo of Martina Franca: Lieutenant Gabriele Rame, of Benevento, and first airman Francesco Manco, of Zollino. Thanks to the protection level of the Lynx, they did not suffer major injuries.”
According to http://www.corriere.it the soldiers “also escaped thanks to the high level of protection of the Lynx, an armoured vehicle that was recently bought by the Italian army and has been deployed in Afghanistan and Lebanon. In many attacks the VTLM played a decisive role in saving the life of the crew, and the defence ministry is considering the possibility of increasing the number of these vehicles”.
23 February 2008
According to http://messaggeroveneto.repubblica.it the Lynx and Iveco saved the lives of more soldiers. On 23 February a crew from the 132° regiment of Cordenons, which included Fernando Paiano, Pierpaolo Massaro, Diego Todde, Calogero Mignacca and Simone Fornicola, escaped an attack in the province of Farath. The soldiers were travelling in a multi-role tactical vehicle and, thanks to the vehicle, did not suffer injuries. A member of the crew, under their own initiative, sent an email to Iveco to underline that the soldiers had survived thanks to the characteristics of the Lynx”.
September 2007
According to http://www.ilmessaggero.it in Kabul three Italian soldiers “were injured as a result of the explosion of a high-powered bomb that struck a convoy of six vehicles on reconnaissance in the Farah region (south of the area under the control of the Italian contingent), on the road between Farah and the so-called Kings Road”.
The report said: “The explosion struck a VTLM multi-role tactical vehicle full-on, injuring the three soldiers inside. The injured, probably members of the special forces, are in a good state of health, stable, conscious and their condition is generally satisfactory, according to the commander of the Italian contingent in Herat. The violence of the explosion could have had much more serious consequences without the special anti-mine protection with which the Lynx VTLM is equipped.”
March 2007
According to http://www.repubblica.it in March 2007 “another Lynx convoy bearing the Italian insignia was struck by an explosion from a device left by the roadside, again in the province of Farah. On this occasion, as before, fortunately none of the soldiers was injured.”