At the upcoming Airpower24 airshow, to be held in Zeltweg, Austria, from 6 to 7 September, General Dynamics European Land Systems – Steyr (GDELS-Steyr) is presenting a new short-range air defence (SHORAD) variant of the Pandur 6×6 EVO wheeled armoured vehicle.
The new variant features a Rheinmetall Air Defence Skyranger 30 turret armed with a 30 mm × 173 revolver cannon capable of firing air-burst ammunition as well as launchers for two Mistral surface-to-air missiles.
A radar and an electro-optical sensor package including TV and infrared cameras and a laser rangefinder are integrated into the turret for surveillance and tracking, while two control consoles for the weapon system and the fire control computers are housed inside the vehicle.
The Pandur SHORAD variant “is fully equal to the other family variants in terms of mobility”, according to GDELS-Steyr, meaning that it is well suited for convoy protection against manned and unmanned airborne threats and contributes substantially to the Austrian Army’s ‘Defend the defender’ concept.
The Pandur EVO has been in service with the Austrian armed forces as a wheeled armoured personnel carrier since 2018, while in February 2024 a further 225 vehicles in 12 different mission variants were ordered. In addition to the SHORAD variant presented in Zeltweg, these include a turreted mortar system recently shown at Eurosatory 2024 in Paris, as well as vehicles for the medical evacuation, command-and-control, anti-tank, reconnaissance, electronic warfare and engineering roles.
