Page 101 - World Of Nurol Magazine 28

Turkish MoD Awards FNSS, for Turkish

Navy’s Armoured Amphibious Assault

Vehicle Program

The contract for the Armoured Amphibious Assault Vehicle (ZAHA) Project was signed between SSM and
FNSS on March 7th, 2017 in Ankara. Program was initiated by the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries
(SSM) to meet the amphibious armoured vehicle requirement of the Turkish Naval Forces Command.
In addition to enabling the safe landing of units during landing operations, armoured amphibious
assault vehicles also serve as armoured combat vehicles or armoured personnel carriers after reaching
shore. During the landing phase of an operation, these vehicles are launched from landing helicopter
dock (LHD) approaching the coast, and rapidly cover the several kilometres distance in between, allowing
units to land with minimum delay. Once on land, they can continue taking part in operations side by side
with other armoured vehicles. As vehicles that have a dual nature due to their mission requirements,
armoured amphibious assault vehicles need to exhibit superior performance both at sea and on land.
Only a few countries around the world have such vehicles in their inventories. Among NATO countries
and allies, only a single company other than FNSS produces vehicles of this class.

Under the contract signed between SSM and FNSS, the vehicles will be developed and produced by FNSS
based on an indigenous development model. The FNSS will deliver a total of 27 vehicles, including 23
personnel carriers, 2 command and control vehicles and 2 recovery vehicles. The technical characteristics
of the Armoured Amphibious Assault Vehicles were determined by taking into consideration the
operational concept and mission requirements defined by the Turkish Naval Forces Command. Compared
to similar examples, these vehicles are expected to be superior in the following respects:

· Number of personnel transported by the vehicle,
· Level of ballistic and mine protection, and
· Performance criteria on land and in water.

K. Nail Kurt, General Manager and CEO of FNSS, commented on the signed contract as follows: “Following
the Anti-Tank Vehicles Project, the ZAHA contract is the second contract we have signed with SSM in the
past year. Then there is also the KORKUT contract we have signed with ASELSAN. Thus, in addition to
successfully maintaining our status as the largest and most important local supplier to the Turkish Land
Forces Command in terms of the variety of vehicles and the duration of service, we now deservedly take
pride in having become a vehicle supplier for the Turkish Naval Forces Command as well.

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