After signing a shareholders agreement in December 2009, GTD and Nexter Systems have created a joint venture for the purpose, in particular, to perform the contract for the Spanish program called "Vehículo Blindado Ruedas 8x8" (VBR 8x8), should such contract be awarded to them.
Ibersystems de Defensa is a Spanish limited liability company owned jointly by Nexter Systems and GTD. Based in Barcelona, it will develop the Spanish variants, undertake final assembly of the local version of the VBCI and manage a network of suppliers throughout Spain and Portugal.The first phase of the Spanish VBR 8x8 programme involves the acquisition of 300 vehicles at a cost in excess of €1 billion. This should be followed by a second acquisition phase. The first 300 vehicles will include 173 troop transports, 8 Command Posts and 119 cavalry fighting vehicles. The contract is due to be signed by the start of 2011 at the latest.