Caption: Pandur II 8×8 FSV 105 mm
The Ministry of Defence of Indonesia has signed a letter of intent on an initial delivery of 22 wheeled Infantry Fighting Vehicles Pandur II 8x8 CZ with the PT Pindad company. The vehicles are to be produced in Indonesia under license based upon an agreement with Excalibur Army, member of the Czechoslovak Group. Excalibur Army has acquired the production and sales rights of Pandur II vehicles for Eastern Europe and Asia in 2015 from General Dynamics Land Systems (GDELS).
The Czech company Excalibur Army has an agreement to market the Pandur II CZ in a number of countries. Four Pandurs II 8x8 CZ were received by Indonesia military already back in September 2017, and the vehicle in standard IFV configuration has been presented during Indo Defence 2018 (held from 7th till 10th November in Jakarta). It carries the Ares UT30MK2 unmanned turret mounted with a 30mm cannon; two vehicles are fitted with a Remote Weapons Station mounted with 12.7mm machine gun, and the last vehicle is a Fire Support Vehicle (FSV) fitted with the CMI Defence 105mm turret. All four vehicles have been trialled in Indonesia.
See also: Czech Army’s Modernization Projects: Pandur II
For service in Indonesia the vehicles are modified for tropical climate with a powerful air conditioning, better corrosion and humidity resistance, water-cooling, etc.
The current contract based on the letter of intent concerning the first 22 vehicles will reach USD 82 million and the vehicles are to be delivered within three years. According to Janes.com the vehicles will be sent to Indonesia by Excalibur Army semi knocked down, and assembled by PT Pinbad. According to Army Recognition the Indonesian Army plans to purchase up to 250 Pandurs in total.
The Indonesian Army is about 300 thousand strong. Its mechanized infantry is equiped with 50 Marder 1 A3 tracked Infantry Fighting Vehicles, and over 200 M113, Alvis Stormer and AMX-VTT tracked Armoured Personal Carriers (APC. The army fields over 300 indigenous wheeled APCs Pindad Anoa APS-3.
See also: Excalibur International – deliveries and production of military vehicles in Thailand
There are two specific political aspects of the Pandur II acquisition. The unmanned turret UT30MK2 is actually produced by the Israeli Elbit Systems. Due to the fact that Indonesia is an islamic country (87.2% of population are muslims), the turrets will be delivered by Brasilian company Ares, Elbit System’s subsidiary. The other is more serious: the Papua conflict. The Indonesian government is being accused of violent, unjust, even genocidal campaigns against indigenous inhabitants of Papua, Western New Guinea: 150-400 thousand people were killed since 1962 according to various estimations.