''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, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n company,

Steyr Steyr (; ) is a statutory city (Austria), 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 lar ...

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 fifth largest in the Unit ...

Land Systems – Europe), by Sistemska Tehnika of

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

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''; ''T ...

. It is named after the

Carantania Carantania, also known as Carentania (, , in Old Slavic '), was a Slavic principality that emerged in the second half of the 7th century, in the territory of present-day southern Austria and north-eastern Slovenia. Since the middle of the ...

duke Valuk Valuk () was the Slavs, slavic duke in the independent land of the Alpine Slavs or Carantania. The date of his reign is around 631. His name is more or less identical to the name of the Prince Valtunka, which can both be interpreted as ''governmen ...

Design

Weapon systems

The transport version is equipped with either a 12.7 mm machine gun or a 40 mm automatic grenade launcher. The mortar-carrier version carries a CARDOM 120 mm mortar. The scout version is equipped with a stabilised Overhead Weapon Station supplied by the Rafael 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 cartridge (weaponry), cartridges. Historically, this class of cartridge was commonly known as .30 caliber, the equivalent in imperial unit, Imperial and United States ...

coaxial machine gun. The weapon station can be fitted with externally mounted TOW 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 ...

sight. 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 the observation system are: * Doppler radar (optional; 48 km of max detection radius) * Electro-optical subsystems:

CCD CCD may refer to: Science and technology * Charge-coupled device, an electronic light sensor used in various devices including digital cameras * .ccd, the filename extension for CloneCD's CD image file * Carbonate compensation depth, a property ...

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 In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by shares, the li ...

(laser target designator) *

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geol ...

* BMS (battle management system) *

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...

/ 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 refers to the military strategies, tactics, and weapon systems designed to counter and destroy enemy armored vehicles, particularly tanks. It originated during World War I following the first deployment of tanks in 1916, and ...

and

anti-personnel mine An anti-personnel mine or anti-personnel landmine (APL) is a form of land mine, mine designed for use against human, humans, as opposed to an anti-tank mine, which target vehicles. APLs are classified into: blast mines and fragmentation mines; ...

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 be equipped with a capstan type cable winch.

Engine

The Valuk has a Steyr 612.35 6-cylinder turbo diesel engine. It has a hydrodynamically controlled automatic transmission with a torque converter, and a lock-up clutch with 5 forward and 1 reverse gears. 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 slopes 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 (, stands for Computerized Autonomous Recoil Rapid Deployed Outrange Mortar) is an Israeli 81 mm/120 mm recoil Mortar (weapon), mortar system (RMS), manufactured by Soltam Systems. It is used by the United States Army, the Isr ...

120 mm mortar ** Made as a prototype, never adopted. * Scout version ** Crew: 3 ** Armaments: 25 mm

M242 Bushmaster The M242 Bushmaster chain gun is a 25 mm caliber, 25 mm (25×137mm) single-barrel chain-driven autocannon. It is used extensively by the United States Armed Forces, U.S. military, such as in the Bradley fighting vehicle, as well as by other NAT ...

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). ** Made as a prototype, never adopted.

Operators

* – 65 Vehicles * – 20 Vehicles (donated in April 2023)

References

External links

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