The Anoa had been officially unveiled to the public under the designation APS-3 (Indonesian: Angkut Personel Sedang, English: Medium Personnel Carrier) at the Indo Defence & Aerospace 2008 exhibition from November 19 to November 22, 2008 after being shown in a TNI parade on October 5, 2008. On August 30, 2008, 10 APS-3s have been produced with the plan of having 150 vehicles to be produced for the Indonesian Army in time for their first deployment in 2009.

Twenty of the vehicles were handed over to the Indonesian government through the Indonesian Defense Ministry, part of a deal from the initial 150 vehicles to 40 due to the economic crisis. 40 Pansers were delivered as part of PT Pindad's commitment to the total delivery of 154 vehicles. 33 Pansers were eventually submitted to the Ministry of Defense on January 13, 2010. Pindad had received loans from state-owned Bank Mandiri, Bank BNI 46 and Bank BRI as part of payments for the manufacture of the Anoa.

The Anoas were officially placed into Indonesian military service in July 2009. They were publicly seen in service with the Mechanical TNI Battalion Task Force Garuda Contingent in Lebanon.

The Anoa made its first appearance overseas when it was publicly displayed in BRIDEX 2011 in Brunei. It was also displayed at DSA 2012 in Malaysia where a planned Malaysian-only marketed Anoa called the Rimau was unveiled to the public.

On November 5, 2019, it was announced that the Anoa would be promoted to DND officials for a possible purchase.