Pandur II 8x8 armored vehicles by GDELS-Steyr GmbH are to be marketed in the Czech Republic, East Europe and Asia by Excalibur Army spol. s r.o.

General Dynamics European Land Systems S.L., parent company of Austria's GDELS-Steyr, said the marketing deal comes under a collaborative contract signed last month.

Under the deal, Czech company Excalibur Army will manufacture the Pandur II under license from GDELS-Steyr, which will provide design services and components for the vehicles.

"With this step we have established a sustainable collaboration with a trusted and capable partner, which has a significant industrial footprint in Czech Republic and Slovakia and also excellent market access to other export markets in Eastern Europe and Asia," said GDELS Vice President of International Business & Services Thomas Kauffmann. "The transfer of technology and the local production of these vehicles with enormous export potential, presents real opportunity to the Czech and Slovak industry."

A contract the two companies will jointly pursue is for provision of command and communications variants of the vehicle to the Czech Ministry of Defense, which already operates more than 100 Pandur IIs.