Czech defense industry will deliver 23 Pandur II armored vehicles to Indonesia.

According to news published on March 25, 2020, to the czdefence website, the Czech defense industry in collaboration with local companies will deliver 23 Pandur II 8x8 armored vehicles to Indonesia following a contract signed in 2019.

Pandur II wheeled armored vehicle at Indodefence exhibition in 2018. (Picture source Army Recognition)

For the period from 2021 to 2022, Indonesia could acquire several Pandur II armored vehicles equipped with a turret armed with a 30mm gun. The project will be lead by the Czech Company Excalibur Army which has already delivered military equipment to Indonesia. The Company produces Pandur II in Czech Republic under license.

On April 12, 2019, the Indonesian Ministry of Defense issued PT Pindad a contract worth $ 80 million for the production of the first 22 Pandur II series 8x8 infantry fighting vehicles that received the Indonesian designation Cobra.

The Indonesian version of the Pandur II will be fitted with the Israeli remote-controlled uninhabited combat module Elbit Systems U30MK.II, armed with a Northrop Grumman Bushmaster Mk.44 30mm automatic gun and two 7.62mm machine guns.

Indonesian Company PT Pindad, in partnership with the Czechoslovak Group, is promoting the Pandur II 8x8 of the Indonesian army in several versions. In 2017, PT Pindad received four units of the Pandur II from the Czech Republic, and fitted them with an armament: two Pandur IIs were equipped with remote-controlled Ares REMAX (Elbit Systems) combat modules armed with 12.7-mm machine guns, one vehicle was equipped with an Elbit Systems uninhabited combat module / Ares UT30MK.II with a Bushmaster Mk 44 30mm cannon (this vehicle was demonstrated at IndoDefense 2018, in November 2018) and one non-floating vehicle was armed with a Belgian CMI Defense CMI-3105HP turret (Cockerill Series 3000) with a 105mm cannon ( a similar turret is mounted on a Turkish-designed FNSS Kaplan/Harimau medium tank).

The Pandur II is an improved version of the Pandur I wheeled armored vehicle APC (Armored Personnel Carrier). It was developed as a private venture by the Austrian company Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeuge which is now part of General Dynamics European Land Combat Systems.

The Pandur II has a longer wheel base and modified hull compared to the Pandur I. The armor package of the vehicle provides protection against firing of small arms 7.62mm caliber. It can be fitted with add-on armour to increase the ballistic protection against 14.5mm armour piercing shells at 100m. In option, the vehicle can be fitted with spall liners and additional armour protection to provide mine blast protection.

The Pandur II is motorized with a Cummins ISC 350 diesel engine developing 285 hp. coupled to a ZF 6HP 602C fully automatic transmission. It can run at a maximum road speed of 100 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 700 km.