Pandur EVO 6x6
Pandur EVO is a 6x6 modified version of armored personnel carrier Pandur II 8x8. The compact, high-performance PANDUR EVO 6x6 is built at GDELS' Steyr facility in Vienna Simmering, the national center of excellence for wheeled and tracked protected military mobility. Versions of the PANDUR EVO have been in service with the Austrian Armed Forces since 1996. Around 850 PANDUR in 6x6 and 8x8 configurations are fielded worldwide today. Other users include Belgium, the Czech Republic, Indonesia, Kuwait, Portugal, Slovenia, and the U.S.
Compared to the Pandur I armored personnel carriers (also used by the Austrian Army since the 1990s), the Pandur EVO has increased weight, enhanced protection, including mine protection, and a 455 hp Cummins engine. The Pandur EVO has a capacity of 12 people, including three crew members. The vehicles received by the Austrian army are equipped with a remotely controlled WS4 Panther combat module with a 12.7 mm M2NV machine gun and a 7.62mm MG74 machine gun supplied by ESL Advanced Information Technology (ESLAIT) GmbH, an Austrian division of the Israeli company Elbit Systems.
The multi-role PANDUR EVO provides high survivability and crew protection against ballistic, mine, IED blast and fragmentation threats. Key characteristics of the 6×6 vehicle are its superior mobility and its compact design combined with unmatched internal space and payload potential. The vehicle fits into a C-130 transport aircraft while accommodating a crew of up to 11 soldiers. It is powered by an enhanced mission proven diesel engine with over 25kw/t and 1600 Nm of torque. The 2-stage transfer gear, shiftable on the move including an automatic drivetrain management enables advanced drivability in all types of military missions.
The PANDUR 6×6 Evo with MBDA’s integrated IMPACT (Integrated Precision Attack Combat Turret) turret and AKERON MP responds to latest battlefield requirements in terms of firing from confined spaces, “fire-and-forget” and self-guidance with a “man-in-the-loop” capability. IMPACT is a twin launcher gyro-stabilized remote control station, with FN 7,62mm machine gun developed for equipping light armored vehicles with AKERON MP. AKERON MP missile system is designed for dismounted infantry as well as for integration on combat vehicles with a range over 4000m. It has a multi-purpose warhead with a selectable choice of anti-armor or anti-infrastructure modes. Network-enabled AKERON MP also receives third party target designation for indirect fire scenarios. The Akeron MP formerly known as Missile Moyenne Portée (MMP), is a French fifth generation, network-enabled, anti-tank guided missile system.
The Pandur Evolution (EVO) armored personnel carrier has been developed and manufactured for the Austrian army since 2018 by the Austrian branch of General Dynamics Corporation - General Dynamics European Land Systems - Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug GmbH (GDELS-Steyr, the former Austrian Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug, separated from Steyr-Daimler-Puch in 1998 and acquired by General Dynamics in 2003). The Pandur EVO is actually a modified version with a 6x6 wheelbase of the Pandur II armored personnel carrier with an 8x8 wheelbase, previously supplied by GDELS-Steyr of Portugal and the Czech Republic. In 2015, General Dynamics actually curtailed the marketing of the Pandur II and sold the full rights to this machine to the Czech company Excalibur Army (part of the Excalibur Group, which later became the Czechoslovak Group), which now builds Pandur II machines at a specially created enterprise controlled by the Czechoslovak Group Tatra Defense Vehicle in Koprzhivnitsa.
But the production of the Pandur II remained at the GDELS-Steyr plant in Vienna (Simmering), from where machine kits for assembly in the Czech Republic are supplied, and production of the Pandur EVO armored personnel carrier for the Austrian army was then started in Vienna. The designation "EVO" was chosen in order not to violate the rights sold by Excalibur Army to the Pandur II brand. Pandur EVO supplies for USSOCOM must also be carried out from the Vienna factory.
At the end of June 2022, the US Army issued General Dynamics Land Systems (a division of General Dynamics Corporation) won a contract worth $ 55.85 million for the supply of an undisclosed number of Pandur EVO (6x6) wheeled armored personnel carriers as a new generation of armored vehicles AGMS (Armored Ground Mobility System) for Special Operations Command USA. Deliveries under the contract should be made by mid-2025. the Pandur EVO armored personnel carrier was chosen as a replacement for the currently used by the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) as armored vehicles under the designation AGMS of the Pandur I (6x6) armored personnel carriers of the first generation. It is reported that the tests of the Pandur EVO for USSOCOM are planned to be carried out in the United States in fiscal years 2023-2024, after which the delivery of the contracted batch will be carried out.
The Austrian Ministry of Defense awarded a contract on October 30, 2020 to General Dynamics European Land Systems-Steyr for the delivery of 34 PANDUR 6×6 Evolution (Evo) wheeled armored vehicles. The new vehicles are designed as armored personnel carriers (APCs) and can be quickly converted into other roles such as CASEVAC (casualty evacuation) due to their modular design. In addition to the 34 vehicles purchased in 2016 and based in the center of excellence at the JÃgerbataillon 17 in Styria, the Austrian Armed Forces will operate a fleet of 64 new PANDUR 6×6 Evo. Deliveries will be made in 2022 and 2023.
General Dynamics European Land Systems - Steyr (GDELS) announced February 21, 2024 that it has been awarded a contract to deliver an additional 225 PANDUR 6x6 EVO wheeled armored vehicles to the Austrian Armed Forces. The contract has an initial value of 1.2 billion euros (U.S. $1.3 billion) marking the Austrian Army's most significant acquisition in the past twenty years.
GDELS already has 100 PANDUR EVO vehicles under contract, with the third batch currently in production and delivery. In addition to the delivery of state-of-the-art personnel carriers and flexible conversion kits for medical, and command & control missions, the order includes eight new vehicle variants, including vehicles equipped with a 120 mm mortar combat system, as well as mobile air defense and electronic warfare variants.
"Today's procurement decision marks an extraordinary milestone in the history of our PANDUR and underlines the globally unique performance and multi-role capability of this wheeled armored vehicle family," said GDELS President Antonio Bueno. "Since the very beginning, Austria has been one of GDELS' home countries. Consequently, we are fully dedicated and proud to continuing our proven, trusted partnership by providing the Austrian Armed Forces with enhanced military mobility, while at the same time contributing to sustainable macroeconomic added-value together with our many industry partners."
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