''Lahko kolesno oklepno vozilo Valuk'' (LKOV, "Light wheeled armoured vehicle") is an improved version of Pandur 6X6 APC (armored personnel carrier), manufactured under a license manufacturing agreement with the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

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Steyr Steyr (; Central Bavarian: ''Steia'') is a statutory city, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. It is the administrative capital, though not part of Steyr-Land District. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3rd l ...

Daimler Puch Spezialfahrzeug AG & Co KG (now part of

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

Land Systems – Europe), by Sistemska Tehnika of

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for the

Slovenian Army The Slovenian Ground Force is the primary component of Slovenian Armed Forces. History The current Slovenian Armed Forces are descended from the Territorial Defense of the Republic of Slovenia (''Teritorialna Obramba Republike Slovenije''; ''TO ...

. It is named after the

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duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

Valuk ''Lahko kolesno oklepno vozilo Valuk'' (LKOV, "Light wheeled armoured vehicle") is an improved version of Pandur 6X6 APC (armored personnel carrier), manufactured under a license manufacturing agreement with the Austrian company, Steyr Daimler Pu ...

Design

Weapon systems

The transport version of vehicle is equipped either with 12.7 mm

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

or 40 mm automatic grenade launcher. Mortar-carrier version carries CARDOM 120 mm mortar. The scout version of vehicle is equipped with a stabilised Overhead Weapon Station supplied by the

Rafael Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California * Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israeli manufacturer of weapons and military technology * Hurricane Rafael, a 2012 hurricane Fiction * ''R ...

Israel Armament Development Authority. The Overhead Weapon Station OWS-25 is armed with a 25 mm Bushmaster automatic cannon and a

7.62 mm The 7.62 mm caliber is a nominal caliber used for a number of different cartridges. Historically, this class of cartridge was commonly known as .30 caliber, the imperial unit and customary unit equivalent, and was most commonly used for ...

coaxial

. The weapon station can also be fitted with externally mounted

TOW Towing is coupling two or more objects together so that they may be pulled by a designated power source or sources. The towing source may be a motorized land vehicle, vessel, animal, or human, and the load being anything that can be pulled. Th ...

long-range anti-tank guided missiles.

Command, control, and targeting systems

The gunner can survey, acquire and track a target, aim and fire from inside the turret with a closed hatch or in a head-out position. The gunner's station is equipped with a day and night

periscope A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position. In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...

sighting. The day periscope sight has a unity magnification window with a collimated aiming circle and an 8× magnification sight with a ballistic reticle. The night periscope sight has a unity magnification window and an image intensifier x7.5 magnification passive night elbow. The main components of observation system are: * Doppler radar (optional; 48 km of max detection radius) * Electro-optical subsystems: CCD camera (effective distance up to 20 km),

FLIR Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) cameras, typically used on military and civilian aircraft, use a thermographic camera that senses infrared radiation. The sensors installed in forward-looking infrared cameras, as well as those of other thermal ...

and laser distance measurer * LTD (laser target designator) *

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

BMS BMS may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Be-Music Source, a computer file format and Beatmania simulating game system * Bristol Motor Speedway, Tennessee, US * '' Blue Mountain State'', a television series * Bibliography of Music Literature (BM ...

(battle management system) * UHF/ VHF radio station * integrated electric generator (optional)

Self-protection

The standard armoured protection is rated to withstand 7.62 mm armour-piercing rounds through a full 360 degrees, and 12.7 mm armour-piercing rounds over a 30-degree frontal arc. Rafael has supplied a passive add-on ceramic armour kit for the Valuk which provides 12.7 mm AP round protection over the full 360 degrees. The crew door at the rear of the vehicle is equipped with a periscope sight. The crew is protected against

anti-tank Anti-tank warfare originated from the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the Triple Entente deployed the first tanks in 1916, the German Empire developed the first anti-tank weapons. The first deve ...

and

anti-personnel mine Anti-personnel mines are a form of mine designed for use against humans, as opposed to anti-tank mines, which are designed for use against vehicles. Anti-personnel mines may be classified into blast mines or fragmentation mines; the latter may ...

s and a full nuclear, biological and chemical warfare protection system is fitted. The crew compartment is fitted with an automatic fire detection and fire fighting system with 3 fire sensors and three Halon 1301 gas containers. A version of the Valuk has been built with a rear ramp with an emergency door instead of two doors. The vehicle can also be equipped with a capstan type cable winch.

Engine

The Valuk is equipped with a Steyr 612.35 6-cylinder turbo diesel engine and a hydrodynamically controlled automatic transmission with a torque converter and lock-up clutch with 5 forward and 1 reverse gear. The engine provides a power-to-weight ratio of 20.4 kW per ton. The 6x6 wheels have automatic tyre pressure regulation with a central tyre inflation system. The independent suspension system has telescopic shock absorbers on each wheel. There are coil springs on the first and second axle and torsion bars on the third axle. The drive train and steering linkages are protected within the hull of the vehicle.

Mobility

The turning radius is 8.5 metres and the maximum speed is typically 100 kilometres per hour. The ground clearance is 430 mm. The vehicle can negotiate natural and man made obstacles such as trenches up to 1.5 metres wide, vertical obstacles to 0.5 metres high, gradients of 70 per cent and side slope to 40 per cent. The Valuk can ford water to a depth of 1.2 metres. The combat weight is 13,300 kilograms.

Versions

As with most modern infantry fighting vehicles, a number of versions and roles are available: * Transport version ** Crew: 3+6 ** Armaments: 12.7 mm machine gun or 40 mm automatic grenade launcher * Ambulance version ** Crew: 3+4/(2+3)/6 ** Armaments: none * Mortar-carrier version ** Crew: 2+2 ** Armaments:

CARDOM The ''Cardom'' () is an Israeli 81 mm/120 mm Recoil Mortar System (RMS), manufactured by Soltam Systems. It is used by the US Army, the Israel Defence Forces, NATO countries, and others. The Cardom is an autonomous, computerized system ...

120 mm mortar * Scout version ** Crew: 3 ** Armaments: 25 mm M242 Bushmaster automatic cannon and a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, fitted using a RAFAEL

Rafael Overhead Weapon Station The Rafael Overhead Weapon Station is a remote weapon station developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems in cooperation with the Israel Defense Forces. It has been superseded by the Rafael Samson Remote Controlled Weapon Station (RCWS). However, ...

(OWS-25)

Operators

* – 85 Vehicles

References

External links

Official Website
{{Modern IFV and APC Armoured fighting vehicles of the post–Cold War period Six-wheeled vehicles