One of the largest armaments programs of the Second Republic is now official: the Armed Forces is procuring a total of 225 new Pandur Evolution armored personnel carriers. The purchase price is around 1.8 billion euros, the total investment sum of the armed forces for procurement, training, logistics and infrastructure measures is likely to be as much as 3 billion euros.
The official signing of the contract took place this morning in the presence of Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer by Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner and Martin Reischer, Managing Director of General Dynamics European Land Systems-Steyr and Karl Hufnagel, Managing Director of ESLAIT, which is contributing a total of 16 mortar superstructures and other systems to the overall project.
In addition to the delivery of the armored personnel carriers and flexible conversion kits for medical, command and anti-tank missions, the contract provides for eight additional vehicle variants to be introduced into the armed forces. The vehicle family will be supplemented by the 120-millimeter mortar combat system, mobile air defence and electronic warfare variants. Delivery will continue until 2032, and the contract reportedly includes options for more than 150 additional vehicles.
“We have – and we have to be honest – kept our armed forces on the back burner for decades. But NOW, thanks to procurements such as the Pandur Evolution, we are in the midst of retrofitting.
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Bundeskanzler Karl Nehammer
In his statement, Federal Chancellor Nehammer referred to the risks already outlined in the risk picture 2024 and the consequences for Austria: “Since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine security awareness in Europe and in Austria has increased significantly. We have – and we have to be honest about this – kept our armed forces on the back burner for decades. But now we are in the middle of rearmament thanks to procurements such as the Pandur Evolution. The upgrade can only take place once the retrofitting has been completed.” https://militaeraktuell.at/die-naechste-pandur-generation/ Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner then highlighted the enormous added value of the project for the red-white-red economy. “The procurement of an additional 225 Pandur Evolution in different variants is the largest procurement in 20 years for the land forces of the Austrian Armed Forces. With the investment volume of 1.8 billion euros, we are not only investing in Austria’s security, but also in Austria as a business location. In doing so, we are securing and creating jobs at more than 220 companies. With the national Pandur production, the added value in Austria is 70 percent,” says Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner.
“The procurement of an additional 225 Pandur Evolution in different variants is the largest procurement in 20 years for the land forces of the Austrian Armed Forces.
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Verteidigungsministerin Klaudia Tanner
To date, the Austrian Armed Forces have a total of 100 Pandur Evolution under contract, the third delivery batch of which is currently being manufactured and delivered. Production of the fourth batch, which has now been ordered, will follow on seamlessly and enable further investment and the creation of highly qualified jobs at the Vienna production site.
“Since signing the first delivery batch in 2016, we have laid the foundations for high added value in Austria by involving more than 200 Austrian subcontractors. Building on this, the fourth delivery batch of 225 Pandur Evolution vehicles represents a further contribution to the protected mobility of the Austrian Armed Forces and allows us and our suppliers to hire additional specialists and invest in Austria as a production location,” says Martin Reischer, Managing Director of GDELS-Steyr.
“Since signing the first delivery lot in 2016, we have laid the foundation for high added value in Austria by involving more than 200 Austrian subcontractors.
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GDELS-Steyr-Geschäftsführer Martin Reischer
Antonio Bueno, the President of GDELS, who was also in Vienna for the contract signing, added: “Today’s procurement decision marks an extraordinary milestone in the history of the Pandur and underlines the globally unique performance and multi-role capability of this wheeled armored vehicle family. Austria has always been one of the home countries of GDELS. We are proud to reaffirm our long-standing, proven partnership by continuing to provide high-performance protected mobility to the Austrian Armed Forces. Furthermore, together with our numerous partner companies, we are pleased to contribute to a sustainable economic added value for Austria.”
“Today’s procurement decision marks an extraordinary milestone in the history of the Pandur and underlines the globally unique performance and multi-role capability of this wheeled armored vehicle family.
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Antonio Bueno, Präsident von GDELS
The vehicles will be built by GDELS-Steyr in Vienna-Simmering. The predecessor version has been in service with the Austrian Armed Forces since 1996, with around 850 in service worldwide in 6×6 and 8×8 versions. Users include Belgium, Kuwait, Portugal, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and the USA.
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– Martin Rosenkranz???????????????????????????????????????? (@MartinRosenkra3) February 19, 2024
The equipment procured will in future be used in particular to equip the 3rd Jäger Brigade, which has its units in Lower Austria, Styria and Burgenland. These include Jäger Battalion 17, Jäger Battalion 19, Jäger Battalion 33, Jäger Battalion Burgenland, a militia unit, and Pioneer Battalion 3.
The current contract was concluded as part of the “2032+ build-up plan” numerous other larger and smaller procurements by the armed forces in recent months:
- Last September, Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner announced the replacement of our ageing replacement of our ageing Hercules transport aircraft with new C-390 transporters from Embraer,
- through the extension of an existing framework agreement with Bundesbeschaffung GmbH Wien (BBG) a few weeks ago, the delivery of up to 300 trucks, primarily from the HX vehicle family from Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV),
- and then in December Rheinmetall Air Defence in Switzerland was commissioned with the comprehensive modernization of the existing 35-millimetre anti-aircraft guns. Including the necessary infrastructure measures and other framework conditions, the costs add up to around 690 million euros.
- Already being implemented and in the pipeline are the modernization of the 77 assault rifle to the 77 A1 MOD version,
- the new AW169 transport helicopters from Leonardo (by the end of the year, five aircraft had already been officially handed over to the army) and
- new MUV functional vehicles(Military Utility Vehicle) on Iveco Daily 70.20 by the Tyrolean vehicle body builder Empl.
- The purchase of new training drones was recently announced in order to be able to train the number of drone operators required for the upcoming procurement of “combat unmanned military aircraft”,
- Around a year ago, the Austrian Armed Forces announced as part of a “mech package” worth more than 560 million euros modernization of the Leopard 2A4 main battle tank and the Ulan Ulan infantry fighting vehicle,
- and a decision on the procurement of new procurement of new Advanced Jet Trainers will be announced soon.
https://militaeraktuell.at/sikorsky-bell-us-armee-streicht-fara-programm/ Des Weiteren wurden im vergangenen Jahr 89 Schlittenanhänger inklusive Flat Racks und Wechselaufbauten, vier mittlere Bergefahrzeuge HX 42M mit Anhänger, 25 Bergfahrzeuge Lkw Kipper 6×6 mit Anhänger und drei Löschcontainer von Empl beschafft. Das Bundesheer investierte zudem auch in die Ausrüstung der Soldatinnen und Soldaten: Gekauft wurden 40.800 ABC-Schutzmasken M2000, 1.600 3D-Nachtsichtbrillen, eine erste Lieferung von 35.000 Stück des Schuhsystems Neu des niederösterreichischen Herstellers Rukapol, 24 Soldatenfunkgeräte, die Tranche 5 der Tarnanzüge und die Ausstattung der Berufsjäger mit Jagdausrüstung.
Here for more news about General Dynamics European Land Systems-Steyr, here to further news from General Dynamics European Land Systems based in Madrid and here to further army news.
