Portugal To Cancel Armored Vehicle Contract

The Portuguese Government will cancel the contract for Pandur armored vehicles for the Army (which will keep the 166 already paid) and Navy (which has not yet received any), hoping to get compensation of around € 55 million from the supplier, General Dynamics. "We will submit a proposal for the termination of the Pandur contract to the next Council of Ministers," Minister of National Defence José Pedro Aguiar-Branco said during a hearing by the National Defense Committee. The decision is supported by legal advice and was prepared in conjunction with the relevant branches of the military. To the Minister of National Defence, the cancellation will end "a stalemate that has lasted since 2010" with the supplier, General Dynamics, due to "repeated delays" in the delivery of the equipment. An alternative to these vehicles will be studied in the next revision of the Military Program Law. According to data from the Ministry of Defence, just over 233 million euros have been paid so far for the delivery of 166 Pandur to the Army. The initial contract provided for the purchase of 260 of these armored wheeled vehicles, of which 166 have been delivered, 119 have been accepted and 47 are undergoing technical modifications.