Ukraine proposes BTR-7 armoured vehicle for UAE tender to supply 600 new armoured vehicles 2012114.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011, 09:44 AM

Ukraine's BTR-7 armored vehicle developed and produced at Mykolaiv Mechanical and Repair Plant has successfully passed the tests at the sites of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a part of the participation in the tender to supply 600 new armored personnel carriers for the UAE's army.

The BTR-7 successfully passed a series of races across the desert with a total length of 3,000 miles, and hasn't lost to its foreign counterparts, a source in the defense industry told Interfax-Ukraine.

"In terms of specific characteristics, the BTR-7 even surpassed its competitors: it showed itself perfectly not only in desert, sandy areas, but also in the mountains, and during water crossing. The Ukrainian military machine has no equal in terms of survivability and reliability," he said.

The Defense Ministry of the UAE announced a tender for the supply of 600 armored personnel carriers to the armed forces of the country's to replace about 400 obsolete Soviet combat vehicles BMP-3 in February 2011.

A winner of the tender is to set up a joint venture in the UAE.

According to open sources, the European concern EADS together with the Arab company C4 Advanced Solutions are expected to supply the components for the command and control system. The communications systems for the new armored personnel carriers are likely to be supplied by French Thales.

The European branch of the U.S. company General Dynamics, French Nexter, German Rheinmetall and Finnish Patria, announced their intentions to participate in the tender with their respective vehicles - Desert Piranha 5, VBCI, Boxer and AMV.