**4.3 The Guarani ecosystem**

The Guarani program was initiated to modernize mechanized cavalry and transform motorized infantry into mechanized infantry. The program comprises a family of armored vehicles for the personnel carrier, mortar carrier, reconnaissance, engineering, communications, command post, radar, ambulance, demining, bridge launcher, and rescue. In 1999, the Brazilian Army issued Basic Operational Requirements for the light and medium versions of the Guarani-Reconnaissance (Guarani-R) and Guarani-Personnel Carrier (Guarani-PC) [47]. **Table 4** presents a sample of the Guarani-PC Basic Operational Requirements.


### **Table 3.**

*Osorio's leading suppliers and complementors.*

*Dynamics of Innovation Ecosystems: Orchestrating Actors and Interactions in Emerging… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.111629*


### **Table 4.**

*Sample of Guarani-PC basic operational requirements.*

Based on the Brazilian Army's methodology for the life cycle management of defense products, Army Staff convened interested parties and stakeholders in 2006 for the first decision-making meeting about the Guarani program. As a result, Army Staff started the program with the 6 6 amphibious armored vehicle for personnel carrier—Guarani-PC, intended to be the base platform for other types of wheeled armored vehicles. The prioritization for the personnel carrier was based on the need to substitute the Urutu vehicles developed by Engesa in the 1970s, still in use by the Brazilian Army. Army Staff also decided to obtain Guarani-PC by autonomous development through the Department of Science and Technology in partnership with a national company or consortium. In 2007, after public bidding, the Brazilian Army selected Iveco Defense Vehicles, a Brazilian subsidiary of the Fiat Group and later the CNH Industrial Group, to develop and produce 1 prototype and 16 vehicles for the pilot lot. In addition, several other companies and organizations joined the Guarani program, ranging from public institutions to military organizations and private companies. **Table 5** summarizes the main involved organizations.

Iveco took 6 years, from January 2008 to December 2013, to design, develop, and deliver the first prototype. Iveco based the Guarani-PC platform on technologies and components used by commercial trucks. The goal was to take advantage of commercial off-the-shelf components provided by the existing Brazilian auto industry and make development and production costs cheaper.

*"The great advantage of the Guarani-PC design was not only the use of shelf components but also shelf ideas. Guarani-PC was designed with a V-frame on top of two bars, which is the chassis concept used in commercial trucks. It is the same concept, placing all parts on top of a chassis. So, it is an idea that came from commercial vehicles and made the development cost cheaper." (Army project member)*

Despite the use of commercial off-the-shelf components, many parts still had to be developed by suppliers. To ensure the quality of parts, Iveco runs a Supplier


### **Table 5.**

*Main organizations involved in the Guarani program.*

Quality Engineering process. The process includes several activities, such as meeting suppliers to review materials, documents, drawings, recordings, packing, storage, and product identification. As a result, Guarani-PC has already reached 91% nationalization regarding the number of parts produced by the Brazilian industry. However, suppliers were not always interested in producing just a few parts per month for Guarani-PC as they were used to supplying hundreds of components per month for commercial trucks and thousands of components per month for passenger vehicles. In this context, the negotiation with the Guarani-PC suppliers for fair prices was based on the purchasing power of the CNH Industrial Group, to which Iveco belongs.

*Dynamics of Innovation Ecosystems: Orchestrating Actors and Interactions in Emerging… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.111629*

*"Developing suppliers in Brazil with low production volumes is a challenge. As a result, the purchasing group relies on the unified strength of the CNH Industrial Group to impose certain conditions on suppliers." (Iveco supplier quality analyst)*

In addition to the prototype and the pilot lot, the Brazilian Army acquired some Guarani-PCs for doctrine experimentation by infantry and cavalry troops. Furthermore, these lots allowed user feedback to the project management team, thus improving vehicle development. After approving the vehicle in 2016, the Brazilian Army officially adopted Guarani-PC and hired Iveco to produce 1580 vehicles. The 400th Guarani-PC was delivered in July 2019. **Table 6** summarizes the contracts through which Iveco has been hired to produce Guarani-PCs, including the internal market of Brazil and the external markets of Lebanon and the Philippines.

Based on the requirements, Guarani-PC was designed to allow the installation of complementary systems such as communication equipment (requirement number 67) and armored turrets (requirement number 80). The integration of these complementary systems has provided additional capabilities and contributed to the Guarani-PC's evolution. For example, command and control (C2) systems and a remote-controlled weapon station (RCWS) have already been developed and integrated into Guarani-PC.

C2 systems aim to provide situational awareness for vehicles and troops on the field. The system comprises one radio for voice communication, one radio for data exchange, one tactical computer, and a battlefield management system (BMS) software. The system allows the troops to exchange relevant information in real time, such as maneuver coordination, vehicle positions, and messages, thus supporting the command and control of military operations. In 2013, the Systems Development Center developed the first BMS prototype. Army Staff issued the C2 Basic Operational Requirements for Guarani-PC in 2015. Lately, due to subject complexity and the need to organize the C2 suppliers involved, Army Staff created the C2 Management Committee in 2017 to advise on decisions about C2 systems.


*Source: Compiled by the author according to the Brazilian Federal Government Transparency Portal and the SIPRI Arms Transfers Database. Information in brackets indicates that the accuracy of the data is uncertain. The selling price was converted into US dollars based on the contract completion date.*

### **Table 6.**

*Summary of Guarani-PC contracts.*

**Figure 2.** *The studied ecosystems' timeline. Source: The author.*

The need for an RCWS system was observed in 2004 during the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (UNSTAMIH). Brazilian troops were deployed in Haiti for military operations in urban terrain and used 16 Urutu vehicles to support police operations. In this scenario, the driver and the machine gunner were vulnerable to short-range shots, and the turrets had to be adapted to protect the crew. Consequently, in partnership with Ares Aeroespacial e Defesa, the Army Technology Center initiated a project in 2006 to design and develop an RCWS prototype named Remax. It was the first RCWS to be developed in the Southern Hemisphere. After being tested and approved in other vehicular platforms, Remax was finally integrated into the prototype of Guarani-PC in 2013 and was officially adopted by the Brazilian Army in 2016.

Summarizing the section, **Figure 2** shows the three studied ecosystems in a timeline view of their main events within the stages of emergence, evolution, and death.
