Kenyan army to get 118 Turkish Katmerciler Hizir tactical armored vehicles.

According to Daily Sabah, Katmerciler has signed a contract with Kenya’s Defense Ministry to provide the African country with 118 armored vehicles including the wheeled tactical armored 4x4 vehicle Hizir, the company said in a press release on 28 July. The contract worth $91.4 million was dubbed the company’s largest single export deal.
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Katmerciler Hizir (Picture source: Katmerciler)

The delivery of the 118 Hizir vehicles with spare parts and maintenance tools is set to begin in 2022 and will run through the end of 2023. Commenting on the contract, Katmerciler acting CEO Furkan Katmerci said that these deals are the result of long-term efforts and that the one with Kenya was the result of two years of work.

Katmerciler made TL 273 million ($31.9 million) worth of exports in 2020 and the share of export revenues in the company’s total revenues reached 78%.

The vehicle was unveiled during High Tech Port in November 2016. The Katmerciler Hizir was designed and optimized for high performance under extreme operational conditions in rural and urban areas for 9 personnel. The vehicle benefits from a high level of ballistic and mine protection. It is motorized with a Cummins ISL turbocharged 6 cylinders intercooled diesel engine which has a displacement of 8.9 liters and develops 400 hp (298 KW) at 2,100 rpm. It has a maximum speed of 110 km/h and a range of 700 km. The vehicle has fully Independent Suspension with Coil Spring and Shock Absorber.. It is a multipurpose, low-cost and easy-maintenance platform vehicle for various configurations such as command and control, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN), weapon carrying in which various weapon systems are easily integrated. It can be used as an ambulance or for border security or reconnaissance.

The Hizir is fitted with a Turkish-made Aselsan SARP turret which provides a perfect match for integration onto tactical vehicles, fixed surveillance posts, towers and critical infrastructures. Depending on the operational requirements, SARP can be equipped with 12.7mm machine gun, 40mm automatic grenade launcher or 7.62mm machine gun. The SARP turret has advanced capabilities and options such as Fire-on-the-move capability - Day and night imaging - Automatic target tracking - Laser Range Finder for accurate ballistics - Last round warning - Manuel back-up.

The Hizir has 9 gun ports 4 on each side and 1 on the rear door. The vehicle is also equipped with a smoke grenade launcher on the top of the vehicle.