The Omani Ministry of Defence (MoD) has received the first batch of PARS III 8×8 armoured fighting vehicles (AFV) developed by Turkish armoured vehicle manufacturer FNSS Savunma.

According to FNSS Savunma’s delivery announcement (via Twitter), Oman has 172 PARS III AFV on order.

The IFV variant is fitted with FNSS’s one-man Sabre turret armed with a stabilised 25 mm ATK Bushmaster dual-feed cannon and 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun integrated with a laser rangefinder and fire control system.

The PARS III was primarily designed for the export market. The launch customer was Malaysia, which has 247 AFVs on order from FNSS, which is co-producing the PARS III with the Malaysian company DRB-Hicom Defence Technologies (Deftech).