Footage from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) through September 2026 has shown the Pakistan Army and its paramilitary forces operating several types of light armoured vehicles (LAV), including Chinese Dongfeng designs.
The Army’s US-origin MaxxPro mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles have also become a routine sight in the province’s counterinsurgency (COIN) operations.
Most troop movements, however, still rely on soft-skin or lightly protected pickups. Locally sourced vehicles from Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) remain scarce in the field.
This tracker updates Quwa’s April retrospective on the Army’s LAV program and July brief on HIT’s wheeled armoured vehicle programs with the latest sightings, program status, and funding picture.
LAV & MRAP Adoption Across Army & Paramilitary Units
A handful of Chinese Dongfeng armoured vehicles appear to be in use with the Army and various paramilitary forces, including, at least, the Frontier Constabulary (FC).
A Dongfeng EQ2091XFB armoured vehicle has been observed in use with both the Army and FC. The Army is also operating Dongfeng CSK-181 LAVs.
A 2022 Army Recognition report, citing a social media post, claimed that the Army had acquired around 300 Dongfeng Mengshi CSK-182 vehicles – a shorter variant of the CSK-181 – from 2021. However, the footage reviewed for this tracker does not show Dongfeng types in comparable numbers.
MaxxPro MRAPs from older orders and stocks are also routinely seen with the Army in KPK. These sightings suggest that the bulk of the Army’s MaxxPro fleet has been activated for COIN operations.
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