Jakarta (ANTARA News) - State-owned defense equipment company PT Pindad introduced its latest armored car product made in cooperation with Czechoslovak Group (CSG), which is the development of Steyr Pandur II 8x8 produced by CSG.

The company`s general manager for special vehicle, Agus Edy Suprihanto, said here on Thursday that the best armored car produced by Pindad was APS-3 Anoa, which is a 6x6 armored personnel car or six-wheeled car.

"Armored vehicle 8x8 has characteristics that are different from those of the 6x6 car, especially in its development to carry 105-caliber cannon. The superiority of this car is that it can `swim` like an amphibious vehicle and has high mobility," he remarked.

He noted that Pindad has cooperated with the Czech company to produce armored car 8x8 covering not only production but also transfer of knowledge.

"This car can carry more than 12 personnel. What is certain is that for the 30 mm caliber, it will be the first we do," he explained at the Indo Defense 2018 Expo & Forum at JI Expo Kemayoran.

Suprihanto noted that the car is still in the form of a prototype and has not yet been mass-produced.

He expressed his optimism that Pindad would be able to produce it in the near future.

Cooperation process between CSG and TNI (Indonesian army) has been developed since 2016, while Pandur II 8x8 is one of the CSG products that has been bought by TNI under an agreement that covers technology transfer.

"We will conduct joint production to realize its production. The design has been with CSG, while production in Indonesia will be under CSG supervision. For the infantry navigation, we are able to install 30 mm caliber," he elaborated.

Suprihanto revealed that it would take a long time to produce the car as delivery of components could take 9 to 11 months, and so production would rely on supply chain.

"This is the first year. The second year, it will be shorter as supply chain strategy will be easier. We have ordered two for two years and so assembling will be quicker," he noted.

CSG operations director Indonesia Ashar Sjafri stated that regarding the name of the new product, it would be referred to as Pindad, but the base is Pandur II 8x8 from Czech that has been developed in cooperation with Pindad since 2016.

Reporting by Subagyo

Editing by Yoseph Hariyadi

Reporter: Antara
Editor: Andi Abdussalam
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