Czech APC Competition Narrows to 2…

OT-64C in Kosovo(click to view full) On September 23, 2005, DID reported on the Czech government’s tender to procure 199-234 modern 8×8 wheeled armored vehicles to replace its outdated, Soviet-era, BTR-60 derivative OT-64 SKOT armored personnel carriers (APCs). This contract is the biggest in the history of the Czech Army, and the competition has now come down to two finalists. At the end of the first round, the Czech Ministry of Defence had named four semi-finalist firms for the $1 billion program: * Austria’s Steyr-Daimler-Puch * BAE Land Systems & Armament * Finland’s Patria Vehicles Oyj; and * Germany’s Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH. As it happened, BAE withdrew from the competition on Sept 20, 2005, and Rheinmetall Landsysteme’s vehicle (unspecified, but the Boxer MRAV is the firm’s only 8×8 APC) failed the tests. As the Czech Defence Ministry put it… Pandur II – passed(click for land view) “There were three companies taking part in the test at the Brezina Military Training Area, and at Prerov in the Czech Republic for the last three weeks. Because a test vehicle of the Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH, Germany, did not prove satisfactory ability in crossing water obstacles, the company was disqualified from the tender. Two […]