Philippine Army inducts six Kunduz combat engineering vehicles

The Kunduz combines protected mobility with earthmoving and amphibious capabilities, enabling combat engineers to conduct route-clearance and crossing-support tasks in contested environments. (FNSS)

The Philippine Army's 525th Combat Engineer ‘Forerunner' Battalion has inducted new combat engineering equipment, the service announced on its official social media channels on 28 September.

The platforms, which include six Kunduz armoured amphibious combat engineering vehicles manufactured by Turkish company FNSS, were handed over to the Forerunner Battalion at a ceremony on 23 September at the Forerunner Training Area at Fort Bonifacio, Metro Manila.

State-owned Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported that the equipment package also comprised 104 mini-mine detectors and four M113A3 engineer squad vehicles.

The Kunduz delivery follows a contract awarded by the Philippines to FNSS in 2020 to deliver an undisclosed number of vehicles to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Kunduz is a tracked combat engineering vehicle designed to support mobility, countermobility, survivability, and disaster-response operations. The vehicle has a combat weight of 19,500 kg, a length of 6.2 m, a width of 3.3 m, and a height of 3.2 m.

Operated by a crew of two, Kunduz is equipped with a front dozer blade and ballast bowl system and can conduct bulldozing, rough grading, excavating, hauling, and scraping tasks. The vehicle is amphibious and features twin water jets, enabling a maximum water speed of 8.6 km/h. It has a maximum road speed of 45 km/h with an operational range of 400 km.

According to FNSS, the platform is protected to undisclosed STANAG 4569 ballistic and mine-protection standards and is equipped with day/night cameras, a multifunction display, CBRN protection, air-conditioning, and a 15,000 kg-capacity recovery winch.

The M113A3 is a variant of the BAE Systems M113 tracked armoured vehicle family.