Turkish FNSS ZAHA amphibious assault vehicle program goes on.

The qualification activities of the Armored Amphibious Assault Vehicle (ZAHA), which was developed to meet the amphibious armored vehicle needs of the Turkish Naval Forces Command (DzKK), continue successfully, Defence & Technology reports.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link

Being the fastest amphibious vehicle to enter the Turkish Armed Forces inventory, MAV will have all the features and capabilities of both a land and a marine vehicle, by balancing the land and sea requirements. (Picture source: FNSS)

President of the Presidency of Defense Industries, İsmail Demir, gave information about the ZAHA project in his post on his social media accounts. Demir said, " ZAHA (…) has completed the mine and ballistics tests, and continues its reliability and sustainability test with land and sea drives". FNSS Defense Systems, via its social media accounts, wrote that "The final stages of sea driving have been reached in the qualification tests of the Armored Amphibious Assault Vehicle (ZAHA) Project".

Turkish company FNSS will deliver a total of 27 vehicles: 23 personnel carriers, 2 command and control vehicles, and 2 rescue vehicles. The project will be completed in 2022.

During the past 2 years, many engineering tests and subsystem qualifications have been successfully completed with the prototype vehicle, such as durability, performance at sea, performance on land, self-righting, which are rehearsals of the qualification tests to be carried out with the Presidency of Defence Industries and Navy. MAV has higher ballistic and mine protection compared to its counterparts and is equipped with today's most advanced mission equipment.

Being the fastest amphibious vehicle to enter the Turkish Armed Forces inventory, MAV will have all the features and capabilities of both a land and a marine vehicle, by balancing the land and sea requirements.

FNSS MAV/ZAHA during a sea driving test (Picture source: FNSS)

The vehicle was designed by FNSS according to the requirements of the Turkish Navy/Marines and to meet the amphibious operational requirements of the Turkish army. During the beach landing phase of an amphibious operation, these vehicles will be launched from landing helicopter docks (LHD) and rapidly cover the distance between the vessel and shore, allowing marine units to land under armor protection.

The MAV/ZAHA has a crew of three and can carry up to 21 infantrymen. It is based on an aluminum hull that provides protection against the firing of small arms and artillery shell splinters. The vehicle is powered by a Diesel engine coupled to a fully automatic transmission. On the water, the vehicle can reach 13 km/h (7 knots) thanks to two waterjets mounted at the rear of the hull. The vehicle can reach a top road speed of 70 km/h.

ZAHA has four different configurations: Personnel Carrier, Command Vehicle, Rescue Vehicle and Mine Gate Opening Vehicle. For its self-protection, the MAV Zaha is fitted with a remotely operated weapon station that can be armed with a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun or a 40mm automatic grenade launcher. The ÇAKA RWS, designed and produced specifically for ZAHA by FNSS within the scope of the project, is among the domestic and national weapon systems. The "ÇAKA Remote Controlled Tower", named after the great Turkish sailor, Çaka Bey, will be the striking force of ZAHA.

FNSS MAV/ZAHA showcased at IDEF 2021 in Istanbul (Picture source: FNSS)