Anadolu news agency reports that Turkish company FNSS has begun production of the new Pars Ä°zci amphibious armored vehicles, with the first vehicles entering the army in 2022. The contract for the development and production of armored vehicles was concluded between the Turkish Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) and FNSS as part of the 14th International Defense Industry Exhibition IDEF-2019. The first stage of the project involved the development of five different vehicle configurations and the production of a total of 100 vehicles. The project will cover the delivery of Command and Radar Vehicles as well as Sensor and CBRN Reconnaissance Vehicles for the Turkish Land Forces, and Armoured Combat Vehicles for the General Command of Gendarmerie.
Specifically for the Special Purpose Tactical Wheeled Armoured Vehicles (SPTWAV) project, FNSS designed a special PARS family vehicle, Izci (Scout), superior for reconnaissance operations. The PARS SCOUT 6×6 and 8×8 offer superior mobility and a comfortable and safe drive in all types of road and terrain conditions, as well as balanced and high-speed movement on straight roads, low risk of skidding in bends. Also, the vehicle’s transparent armour (ballistic glass) integration ensures high situational awareness. Together, these features make a big difference for reconnaissance operations. The PARS Izci (Scout) will make use of indigenous subsystems for their basic automotive equipment/hardware such as their powertrain, and the vehicles will also be integrated with an FNSS-designed Remote Controlled Turret System.
The PARS Izci (Scout) has a range of over 600 km, and its fuel tanks are incorporated with special protective measures against explosion and puncture. The vehicle is fitted with run-flat tires and has a self-recovery winch. The modular connection of the vehicle subsystems to its mine-resistant hull ensures the ease of maintenance and replacement, and it is this ease of maintenance, replacement of moving parts and power transmission systems in particular that makes it superior to its counterparts. The PARS hull can be brought to the level of protection required by the user thanks to its modular designed armor system. The hull form, underbelly structure, base plates and specially developed mine-resistant seats are designed to protect personnel against high-level mine threats.
The Pars (Turkish for Anatolian Leopard) is an amphibious Armoured combat vehicle family with 4×4, 6×6 and 8×8 versions, produced by FNSS Defence Systems of Turkey. The development of the PARS vehicles commenced in 2002, based on a design by US company GPV (General Purpose Vehicles), and in cooperation with GPV. PARS 4×4 and PARS 6×6 is being proposed for the Turkish Army. PARS 8×8 was first displayed in February 2005 during the IDEX defence equipment exhibition held in Abu Dhabi. Since the first PARS vehicles were shown in 2005 development and further enhancements have been carried out on a continuous basis. To allow for PARS to be rapidly reconfigured for different operational roles, all members of the PARS family have removable roofing so that they can be quickly converted for a wide range of specialist roles.
