EE-9 Cascavel

The EE-9 Cascavel (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɐʃ.kɐ.ˈvɛɫ], translated to Rattlesnake) is a six-wheeled Brazilian armoured car developed primarily for reconnaissance. It was engineered by Engesa in 1970 as a replacement for the Brazil's ageing fleet of M8 Greyhounds. The vehicle was first fitted with the Greyhound's 37mm main gun, and subsequently, a French turret adopted from the Panhard AML-90. Later models carry unique Engesa turrets with a Belgian 90mm Cockerill Mk.3 cannon produced under licence as the EC-90.

The Cascavel shares many components with the EE-11 Urutu, its armoured personnel carrier counterpart; both entered production in 1974 and are now operated by over 20 nations in South America, Africa, and the Middle East. Rights to the design were also sold to the United States via the FMC Corporation. About 2,767 Cascavels and Urutus were manufactured before Engesa ceased operations in 1993.

History

Development

Cascavel

Cascavel is a municipality in western Paraná state, Brazil. It is the 5th most populous city in Paraná with a population of 305,615 inhabitants according to an estimate from IBGE in August 2013. The distance (by freeway) to Curitiba, the state capital, is 491 kilometers.

Relatively new and with a privileged topography, Cascavel's development was planned, which gives it wide streets and well distributed neighborhoods. With an area of 2,100,831 km², it is considered a strategic hub of Mercosul.

The city is on a plateau 781 meters above sea level. It is 504 km west of the state capital of Curitiba and 605 km west of the sea port of Paranaguá, 140 km from the 3 borders (Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil) at 24° 58' South, 53° 26' West.

Toponymy

The name of the city means rattlesnake in Portuguese; it arises from a variation of the classical Latin "caccabus", meaning "bubbling water boiling". According to legend, a group of settlers camped one night in the region and they were woken by the sound of a rattle; later they realized they set up the camp next to a rattlesnake.