The APS-3 Anoa (Angkut Personel Sedang) is a 6x6 armoured personnel carrier developed by PT Pindad of Indonesia. The APS-3 is named after the Anoa, which is a type of buffalo indigenous to Indonesia. The prototype was first unveiled at the 61st anniversary of TNI on October 5, 2006 in TNI HQ at Cilangkap, south of capital Jakarta.
The Pindad APS-3 had been officially unveiled to the public at the Indo Defence & Aerospace 2008 exhibition on November 19, 2008 to November 22, 2008 after being shown in a TNI parade on October 5, 2008. On August 30, 2008, 10 APS-3's have been produced with the plan of having 150 vehicles to be produced for the Indonesian Army in time for their first deployment in 2009. 20 of the Pansers were handed over to the Indonesian government through the Defense Ministry, part of a deal from the initial 150 vehicles to 40 due to the economic crisis. Pindad had received loans from state-owned Bank Mandiri, Bank BNI 46 and Bank BRI as part of payments for the manufacture of the Pansers.
Development
The development history of the Pindad Panser was started in 2003 as a result of increased military intervention in the Aceh province. During the conflict, the Indonesian Army put forward urgent requirements for an armored personnel carrier for the transport of troops.
PT Pindad responded to this requirement in 2004, with the APR-1V (Angkut Personel Ringan) a 4x4 armored vehicle based on a commercial Izuzu truck chassis. 14 vehicles were built by Pindad and were sent to Aceh for evaluation and combat trials. However, the follow-on orders for another 26 vehicles were canceled following the 2004 tsunami.
Pindad continued the APC development program with assistance from the Agency For Assessment and Application of Technology or BPPT in 2005. The next prototype was the APS-1 (Angkut Personel Sedang), a 6x6 design that was again based on a commercial Perkasa truck platform by PT Texmaco. Although it was not selected for production, the experience gained in developing the APS-1 convinced the Indonesian Army to give the go-ahead by Pindad to develop the next generation of Panser vehicles, the APS-2 at a production cost of 600 million rupiah or US$60,000 each.
Design
The APS-3 differed from its predecessors which had been based on commercial truck platforms. Instead, the "Anoa" used a monocoque hull design consisting of armor steel. A new torsion bar suspension system was also developed for the Panser. Currently, the engine and transmission are imported from Renault. Indigenous options are being developed as replacements. The driver sits on the right of the vehicle while the vehicle commander sits on the left.
Armament
The baseline vehicle is fitted with a cupola on the left of the vehicle and armed with a 12.7mm (.50 cal) heavy machine gun or a 40 mm automatic grenade launcher. A fire-support version using a CMI Defence's CSE-90 turret with the Cockerill 90 mm Mk III was unveiled at Indo Defence & Aerospace 2008, which was announced that the APS-3 fire-support version would be deployed into the Indonesian Army by 2010.
Variants
- Reconnaissance/Surveillance
