Indonesia orders Pandur II 8x8 armored vehicles for local production
The Pandur II Cobra 8x8 with the 30mm Bushmaster Mk.44 autocannon on an Elbit Systems UT30 Mk.II unmanned turret. |
As part of a several defense deals signed on 12 April 2019, the Indonesian Ministry of Defence (MOD) signed an US$80 million contract with state-owned arms manufacturer PT Pindad for the production and delivery of an initial batch of 22 Pandur II 8x8 infantry fighting vehicles for the Indonesian Army (TNI-AD).
The Pandur II vehicles will be license-built by PT PAL under an agreement with Excalibur Army, a company under the Czechoslovak Group (CSG), and will be called Cobra. PT PAL will deliver all vehicles within three years.
The vehicles will be armed with a Bushmaster Mk. 44 30mm autocannon mounted on an Elbit Systems UT30 Mk. II unmanned turret supplied through its Brazilian subsidiary Ares. It will also have
a co-axial and a hatch-mounted 7.62mm machine guns.
The TNI-AD plans to purchase up to 250 units of the Pandur II / Cobra armored vehicles to replace some of its ageing mechanized assets.
PT Pindad has been marketing the Pandur II to the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) since 2017, and has showcased several variants of the vehicle including the IFV variant, an armored personnel carrier armed with the Ares REMAX 12.7mm RCWS based on the Elbit Systems ORCWS, and a fire support vehicle / tank destroyer variant with a 105mm tank gun on a Belgian CMI Defence CMI-3105HP Cockerill turret.
[1] Shephard Media
[2] Army Recognition
Indonesia orders Pandur II 8x8 armored vehicles for local production
Reviewed by Asia Pacific Defense Journal
on
April 18, 2019
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