Cavalry to acquire 18 French armored cars

JAKARTA (JP): The Army is soon to acquire 18 state-of-the-art French light armored cars, Antara reported.

The news agency said the ULTRAF reconnaissance vehicles would be entrusted to the Bandung-based Cavalry Weapons Center.

"The procurement is part of the drive to develop the Army's cavalry unit into a professional, effective, efficient and modern force," the center's commandant, Brig. Gen. Budi Setiono Katon, said after leading a ceremony to mark the 47th Cavalry Day in Bandung yesterday.

Jane's Armour and Artillery 1986-87 does not have a listing for ULTRAF. Instead it lists the ULTRAV M11, developed specifically for export by Panhard, a unit of the French Army.

The ULTRAV M11 is fitted with a SAMM one-man manually operated turret, model BTM 208, and armed with one 12.7 mm and one 7.62 mm machine gun.

Budi said the cavalry corps intended to retain its existing scout cars in spite of the procurement.

Those that were made in the 1950s would be retrofitted with new engines or weapons, he said.

The commandant said that apart from the 18 ULTRAFs, the cavalry center was unlikely to obtain new weapons until the year 2000, as until then the greatest threat to security would probably come from within Indonesia.

"We don't need a cannon to crush a mosquito when a swat can do the job just fine," Budi said.

The Army was expanding the cavalry by setting up a detachment at every regional military command, he said. (emb)