The Austrian 8×8 Pandur II Family

The Austrian 8×8 Pandur II Family Background

Steyr-Daimler-Puch was a large manufacturing conglomerate based in Steyr, Austria, which was broken up in stages between 1987 and 2001.

They developed as a private project a 6×6 wheeled APC known as the Pandur with the first prototype completed in 1985. The vehicle was adopted by the Austrian Armed Forces and exported to a number of countries.

In 1998, the production of military vehicles was sold to an Austrian investor company, which named it Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug GmbH (SSF). This firm went on to develop the 8×8 wheeled APC which was named the Pandur II (the 6×6 was then renamed the the Pandur I) which was of course a larger and improved version of the successful 6×6 with the first prototype completed in 2001. The firm was then sold in 2003 to General Dynamics Land Systems.

The Austrian 8x8 Pandur II - Czech Service
The Austrian 8×8 Pandur II – Czech Service

The Austrian 8×8 Pandur II Family Specifications

Weight 22 tonnes
Length 7.02 m (23 ft)
Width 2.67 m (8 ft 9in)
Height 1.85 m (6ft 1 in)
Crew 2 + 12 (APC version)
Primary armament Up to 105 mm gun in turret (Dependant on variant)
Secondary armament Machine gun
Engine 6-cylinder in-line liquid-cooled turbo-charged inter-cooled diesel
Payload capacity 8.5 tonnes
Operational range Approx. 700 km
Top Road Speed 105 km/h

The Austrian 8×8 Pandur II Family Variants

With the increased wheel base to 8×8, the base vehicle has a much larger internal volume and ability to support various turrets with different sized main guns dependant on the requirements of the operating nation.


The Austrian 8×8 Pandur II Family Operators

The license for the base vehicle has been sold to the following nations, or terms of the purchase were to build the vehicle on their own soil and apply modifications and mount various turrets to meet their own requirements.

Czech Republic

All ordered vehicles are expected to be delivered by 2013.

The Czech Pandur II 8×8 CZ’s have an inverted V shape hull, the drivers hatch is equipped with CDND-1 night vision sight and the vehicle has an all round protection from 14.5mm cal heavy MG fire thanks to the add-on passive armour supplied by Israeli Firm RAFAEL. They also have an increased Situational Awareness thanks to externally mounted CCTV.

The Czech army will receive the following variants:

KBVP (kolové bojové vozidlo pěchoty) – IFV version equipped with upgraded Rafael RCWS-30. Upgraded RCWS-30 include: 30mm ATK MK 44, optional launcher pod for two RAFAEL Spike-LR anti-tank/multi-purpose guided missiles, coaxial 7.62mm machine gun M240, and two triple (2×3) 76mm Wegmann smoke grenade launcher tubes. Fire-ready ammunition accommodates 140 high-explosive (HE) and 60 armor-piercing (AP) 30mm rounds, 2 Spike-LR missiles, 460×7.62mm rounds, and 6×76.2mm smoke grenades.

KBV-Pz (průzkumné kolové bojové vozidlo) – reconnaissance variant, partially fitted with a battlefield surveillance radar.

KOT-VOV (kolový obrněný transportér – velitelské obrněné vozidlo) – command post vehicle.

KOT-Zdr (kolový obrněný transportér zdravotnický) – ambulance variant.

KOT-Ž (kolový obrněný transportér ženijní) – engineer vehicle.

Portugal

In 2005 the Portuguese government signed a deal worth 364 million euros to acquire 260 Pandur II armoured vehicle, with an option for further 33 worth 140 million euros, to equip the Portuguese Intervention Brigade of the Portuguese Army and the marines of the Portuguese Navy. Portugal was the first country to buy Pandur II.

The first 41 Pandur II were manufactured in Austria, the further 219 were to be manufactured by Fabrequipa in Portugal.

Part of the Pandur II purchase by Portugal was the term that GDLS manufactured the vehicle in Portugal so as to generate local jobs. This is known as an “offset package”.

In 2009 GDLS swapped production to the Czech Republic on the grounds that production would be cheaper due to the global economic crisis, which was deemed by Portugal as a breach of the Pandur offset contract and on the 8/05/2010 Portuguese Minister of Defence implemented procedures to charge General Dynamics with breach of contract.

As such Portugal has only accepted delivery of 120 vehicles.

The Pandur II for the Portuguese Army is fitted with Steyr add-on armour that provides Level 4 protection according to STANAG 4569. The vehicles for the marines are equipped with Level 3 armour.

The Austrian 8x8 Pandur II - Portuguese Service
The Austrian 8×8 Pandur II – Portuguese Service

Estimated Portuguese Pandur II numbers and variants

Variant
Army
Marines
Total
Infantry Carrier Vehicle (ICV)
105
10
115
Armed with 12.7mm machine gun and capable of transporting 11 soldiers
Infantry Carrier Vehicle (ICV)
7
3
10
Armed with remotely controlled 12.7mm machine gun and capable of transporting 11 soldiers
Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV)
30
2
32
Armed with 30mm cannon (MK30-2 in SP30 turret for army, MK44 in ORCWS turret for marines) and capable of transporting 5 to 7 soldiers. The ORCWS can operate ATGW Spike LR
Anti-tank Guided Missile Vehicle (ATGMV)
15
0
15
Armed with TOW
Mortar Carrier Vehicle (MCV)
31
2
33
Armed with 120mm mortar with a crew of 5 to 6
Command Post Vehicle (CPV)
16
3
19
Recovery and Maintenance vehicle (RMV)
7
0
7
Medical Evacuation Vehicle (MEV)
10
0
10
Engineer Squad Vehicle (ESV)
9
0
9
Radio Access Point Station Vehicle (RAPSV)
6
0
6
Reconnaissance and Surveillance Vehicle (RSV)
4
0
4
Mobile Gun System (MGS)
33
0
33
Optional. Armed with 105mm gun turret, either Oto Melara HITFACT or CMI Defence CT-CV

Other Potential Operators

Austria

The Austrian Army has expressed an interest in purchasing the vehicle, however its believed that due to financial restraints, its not in a position currently to buy the vehicle.

Gabon

Its understood that 1 Pandur II was supplied for field testing.

Slovenia

The KOV “Krpan” (Kolesno Oklepno Vozilo) from Sistemska Tehnika Armas is the Slovenian license version of the Pandur II with a number of improvements and with 55% of local components and subsystems. This APC was proposed to the Slovenian Army but lost competition to the Patria AMV.