Pakistan Selects Slovakian Turra 30 Combat Module for Locally-made Infantry Vehicle

Pakistan has selected the Slovakian-made Turra 30 combat module for its Viper infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) being developed by local firm, Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT).

HIT unveiled a prototype of Viper IFV at the IDEAS 2018 held in Karachi. The company is currently developing the new Viper IFV under license to replace its ageing M113 armored personnel carrier (APC).  The Viper IFV retains lengthened chassis from the M113 APCs but has an additional road wheel and is protected by appliqué armour.

It has been fitted with modified Turra 30 remotely controlled weapon station (RCWS) armed with Slovakian Shipunov 30mm automatic cannon, Kalashnikov PKT 7.62 mm medium machine gun (MG), two ready-to-use 9M113 Konkurs (AT-6 'Spandrel') anti-tank guided missiles and smoke dischargers. The Konkurs missiles and Kalashnikov MG, Janes reported quoting an unnamed source from HIT as saying Thursday.

Pakistan chose Slovakian Turra 30 over Ukrainian BM-7 Parus combat module. HIT held comprehensive trials of the Ukrainian Parus module before rejecting it, TASS reported quoting an unnamed source as saying Thursday.

"The BM-7 remote-controlled combat module has failed to meet the requirements of the Pakistani army both by its quality and its price," the source said.