Azerbaijan has unveiled a locally-made mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicle.
On February 14, 2017, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense Industry unveiled the Tufan, a locally-designed MRAP, at a demonstration attended by media. The Tufan (Thunderstorm) was produced by Baku Device Making Plant of Agregat Company, part of the Ministry of Defense Industry.
Alongside the unveiling, Azeri Defence, which primarily covers Azerbaijan military matters, released a video of the demonstration, which can been seen below.
The Ministry of Defense Industry also detailed some of the MRAP’s specifications. The Tufan reportedly weighs 12.3 tons and has a payload capacity of over 3 tons. It can travel up to 85 kilometers per hour on ideal road conditions.The vehicle requires two crew to operate and can carry eight additional troops.
As noted by the Ministry of Defense Industry, the vehicle is suited for combat or counter-terror operations. Its design, including a V-hull, offers STANAG 3/3A level mine protection. On-board cameras offer 360° vision.
Notably, the vehicle is equipped with a remote combat module developed locally. The combat module, controlled from inside the MRAP, carries a 12.7mm NVS machine gun and up to 10 smoke grenade launchers. The smoke grenade launchers were seemingly not included in the demonstration, but were seen on a scale model of the vehicle and its turret at ADEX 2016, where Tufan was first announced.
In addition to the base model armored personnel carrier, the MRAP will be produced in several other variants: medical evacuation, air-defense & anti-armor, and riot control.
Military markets analyst, covering Eurasia, Middle East, and Africa.
