EXCALIBUR ARMY WILL PRODUCE PANDUR II UNDER CICENSE, FOR SALE IN EASTERN EUROPE AND ASIA
NEWTOWN, Conn. -- In January 2015, General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) announced that it had signed a licensed-production contract for the Pandur II 8x8 with Czech defense contractor Excalibur Army.
The terms of the agreement permit Excalibur Army to market and sell the Pandur II 8x8 throughout Eastern Europe and Asia, and also allow the company to establish exclusive long-term service and maintenance contracts with new clients in these regions.
The licensed Pandur 8x8 vehicles will be produced and assembled at Excalibur-owned sites in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with component delivery and technical oversight provided by GDELS.
Czech Pandur II C2 Vehicle
In July 2014, the General Staff of the Army of the Czech Republic announced that it had selected the Pandur II as the favored platform to fulfill the Czech Army's requirement for a new fleet of 30 command and control (C2) vehicles. The Czech Army's utilization of Pandur vehicles in the IFV configuration grants its personnel a built-in level of familiarity with the operational and maintenance requirements of the platform.
The Czech Ministry of Defense and GDELS penned the final contract for the new C2 vehicles in January 2015, though the requirement was reduced to 20 units from the initially reported 30-vehicle requirement.
In January 2017, the Czech MoD ordered an additional 20 Pandur vehicles, at a cost of $82 million.
Crisis and Austerity
Although the Austrian Army once had plans to pursue domestic Pandur II 8x8 procurement, the current dire state of the Austrian defense budget precludes the implementation of such a plan. As a result, the Austrian Army is prioritizing the retrofit and modernization of existing Pandur I vehicle stocks.
However, GDELS's new partnership with Excalibur Army may allow the Pandur series to find an expanded degree of success in new markets outside the traditional eurozone base. In addition, the Pandur II could prove an attractive procurement option for Eastern European states seeking to bolster their mechanized defense capabilities in response to the Russian Federation's forcible annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and ongoing military intervention in Eastern Ukraine.
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