Kenya purchases 118 Hizir APCs from Turkey.

Kenya’s Department of Defense has cleared the procurement of 118 Hizir armored personnel carriers from Turkey at a price of nearly $70 million, Andrew Wasike reports on AA.com.
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Katmerciler Hizir 4x4 armored vehicle (Picture source: Army Recognition)

Kenyan Defense Forces spokeswoman Zipporah Kioko told Kenya’s Star newspaper on 25 January that the East African country is focused on ensuring the survivability of its troops deployed in the fight against al-Shabaab terrorist militants from Somalia, hence the need to procure 118 new armored personnel carriers (APCs).

Kioko said: “The Kenyan Army made a critical assessment and established that the contemporary operating environment has evolved significantly with major threats to the APCs being Vehicle Borne IEDs (VBIEDs), directional IEDs and IEDs [improvised explosive devices] reinforced with complex ambushes.” She added that, from a pool of three firms that had applied to supply Kenyans with the APCs, only the Turkish company Katmerciler met all the necessary requirements with its Hizir, beating two other contenders from South Africa and North America.

The Hizir is a 4x4 armored vehicle fully designed and manufactured by the Turkish company Katmerciler. The vehicle was launched in 2016 during the defense exhibition High-Tech Port expo in Turkey. The Hizir was developed according to NATO standards and approved by a foreign independent test institution after passing all performance and blast explosion tests. It can be used in various configurations such as combat vehicle, command and control vehicle, CBRN, weapon carrier (easy integration of various weapon systems), ambulance, border security, and reconnaissance.

The Hizir is designed on a V-hull monocoque chassis to increase vehicle and crew survivability by deflecting an upward directed blast from a landmine or IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device) away from the vehicle. The vehicle can accommodate nine military personnel including driver and commander.