The EE-11 Urutu is a Brazilian amphibious armored personnel carrier. It was based on the drive train and chassis components of the EE-9 Cascavel armored car and initially emerged as part of a project to develop an amphibious troop-carrying counterpart to that vehicle for the Brazilian Army and Marine Corps (CFN). The first pre-production models entered service with the CFN in 1973 and serial production commenced the following year. While the CFN declined to adopt the EE-11 Urutu in large numbers, the Brazilian Army was more forthcoming and purchased 223; these entered service in 1975. The Urutu was the first fully amphibious armored vehicle developed in Brazil; it can propel itself through water at speeds of 8 km/h via twin propellers. Urutus proved to be extremely popular in the Middle East, particularly with Libya and Iraq, both of which purchased large numbers to complement their fleets of Cascavel armored cars. Iraq deployed its Urutus during the Iran–Iraq War, which became, in effect, a proving ground for the vehicle type. A number of specialized variants were later developed for internal security purposes, vehicle recovery, air defense, cargo transport, and medical evacuation. One hybrid variant was modified to accept the same 90 mm turret-mounted cannon as its Cascavel counterpart; this was marketed unsuccessfully to the United States Army as the Uruvel. Urutus were once operated by over thirty national armies and security forces worldwide. Development history During the early 1960s, Brazil's defense industry was negligible and limited largely to producing small arms or refurbishing obsolete US military equipment. Between 1964 and 1967 the Brazilian government launched a program to revitalize the arms industry in response to growing US reluctance to transfer modern defense technology otherwise needed for its own war effort in Vietnam. This provided the impetus for a number of Brazilian engineering firms to begin developing new weapons for domestic purposes, namely Engenheiros Especializados SA (Engesa). In 1967 design work began on a new wheeled armored car to replace the ageing M8 Greyhound then in service with the reconnaissance units of the Brazilian Army. This would evolve into the EE-9 Cascavel, which was based on an upgraded Greyhound with a new engine and suspension features. Engesa president José Luiz Whitaker Ribeiro created the final design plans for the Cascavel and for a parallel project known as the Carro Transporte de Tropas Anfíbio (CTTA), which was to be an amphibious troop-carrying variant