The Austrian Armed Forces will receive another 225 Pandur EVOs
The Austrian armed forces have concluded a contract with General Dynamics European Land Systems – Steyr (GDELS), the Austrian subsidiary of the European defense group GDELS, for the delivery of 225 Pandur Evo wheeled armored vehicles. The importance of the 1.8 billion euro contract was underlined by the presence of Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner at the contract signing. The order is the largest procurement in 20 years by the land forces of the Austrian Federal Army, said Tanner. The procurement is carried out as part of the “Reconstruction Plan 2032”, which is intended to comprehensively modernize the Austrian armed forces. Improving mobility, protection and assertiveness are key program points in the recovery plan.
The 225 vehicles ordered consist of personnel transport vehicles with flexible conversion kits for medical, command and anti-tank missions and eight other vehicle variants that are being introduced into the armed forces, writes GDELS. The Pandur 6×6 EVO vehicle family will be supplemented by the 120 mm mortar combat system, mobile anti-aircraft defense and electronic warfare variants. The agreed delivery period was 2025 to 2032. According to an unconfirmed source, an option for a further 156 vehicles for delivery after 2032 has been agreed.
Bislang stehen GDELS zufolge 100 Pandur EVO unter Vertrag, deren drittes Lieferlos sich gegenwärtig in der Fertigung und Auslieferung befinde. Die Produktion des nunmehr beauftragten vierten Loses werde nahtlos anschließen und ermögliche weitere Investitionen und den Aufbau hochqualifizierter Arbeitsplätze am Produktionsstandort Wien.
The equally compact and powerful Pandur EVO 6×6 are built at GDELS-Steyr in Vienna-Simmering, the national competence center for protected military mobility on wheels and tracks. The previous versions of the Pandur EVO have been in use by the Austrian Armed Forces since 1996. Around 850 Pandurs in 6×6 and 8×8 configurations are in use worldwide today. Users include Belgium, Kuwait, Portugal, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and the USA.
The 6×6 Pandur Evolution is a wheeled vehicle protected up to Level 3 (STANAG 4569) in the 20-ton class with a 335kW Cummins diesel engine as a drive. This allows the vehicle to reach a top speed of 118 km/h on the road. Standard armament is a 12.7mm heavy machine gun in an Elbit remote-controlled weapon station.
Editorial staff / gwh