Turkish Armored Vehicle ARMA Sank at Ili River – Source

The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been testing armored vehicles, including the ARMA vehicle from the Turkish company Otakar. According Orda.kz’s source, the trial model almost sank in the Ili river in the Almaty region.

An Orda.kz correspondent learned from our source that this happened at the training ground of the amphibious assault brigade “Bereg”.

According to our source, on August 24, while crossing the river, the ARMA 8x8 armored wheeled vehicle could not perform the maneuver. The vehicle was supposed to be able make it across thanks to its good flotation performance capabilities. However, water gushed into the armored vehicle, causing it to almost sink. No one was harmed, the crew managed to evacuate. They had to bring in a special-purpose vehicle to pull the armored vehicle to shore. 

An Orda.kz Correspondent has contacted the Ministry of Defense for comment.

What Happened Before?

Orda’s editorial office has written about how the government had been preparing a decree for the purchase of 834 ARMA cars from the Turkish company Otakar. The purchase would have cost the budget about 2 trillion tenge.

The Ministry of Defense has denied this, announcing that “at present there are no agreements on the supply of armored vehicles by the Turkish side." The ministry added that the Turkish company’s armored vehicles are only one model that Kazakhstan is considering on equal terms. The government is also looking at other foreign analogues.

It is too early to say whether or not the ARMAs will be purchased. The Ministry only denied the information regarding purchasing 834 of them for 2 trillion tenge.

Last year, Orda.kz’s editorial board wrote about how the Ministry of Defense decided to purchase the Turkish counterpart of the Kazakhstani Cobra armored vehicle. The Ministry later distributed information to the media explaining the expediency of purchasing equipment from Otakar. The Association of Enterprises of the Military-Industrial Complex of Kazakhstan in turn broke down the Ministry of Defense’s statement.

Original Author: Orda Correspondent

DISCLAIMER: This is a translated text. The text has been modified, the content is the same. Please refer to the original piece in Russian for accuracy.