The bulk of the Italian Army vehicle pool deployed by 9º Reggimento Fanteria (9th Infantry Regiment) to Latvia last year on the NATO eFP mission, alternatively known as Operazione BALTIC GUARDIAN, was armoured but they also took a number of softskin support vehicles with them including at least one Land Rover AR90.
Known in Italian military service as the Autovettura da Ricognizione (Reconnaissance Car) 90, the Land Rover Defender 90 replaced the AR76 Fiat Nuova Campagnola in the 1990s and continues in service to the present day. Although the Carabinieri, Italy’s fourth military force and a gendarmerie, were the first to use the Defender (powered by the 1997cc 200Mpi petrol engine as fitted in their Discovery fleet) a couple of years later the Italian Army followed them by procuring a fleet of olive green short wheelbase soft tops; some of these were still in service in 2015, by which time they were at least 18 years old.

Early AR90 models were painted plain green – this one dates from 1997 but was photographed in Spain in 2015 [©Bob Morrison]

This Land Rover was being used by the Italian Contingent senior officer in Latvia during SILVER ARROW 17 [© Bob Morrison]

The AR90 has a side-hinged, rather than drop, tailgate and rear tilt has side window panels [© Bob Morrison]

White tape marks this AR90 in Spain for TRIDENT JUNCTURE 15 as being an ExCon or Umpire vehicle [© Bob Morrison]

Photographed outside the multinational Brigade Main HQ, this AR90 has antennae fitted to both mounts and radios inside (but I was not allowed to photograph those) [© Bob Morrison]
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