Daily Sabah

KATMERCİLER TO PROVİDE 118 ARMORED VEHİCLES TO KENYA

Katmerciler to provide 118 armored vehicles to Kenya Katmercller’s tactical wheeled armored 4×4 vehfcle Hızır. IN THE latest of successful deals, a Turkish defense fırm has landed a new contract to provide 118 armored vehicles to Kenya, expanding its footprint in Africa. “Our tactical wheeled armored 4×4 vehicle Hızır has been hailed ali över Africa. Our expansion in the African market continues,” said Furkan Katmerci, the deputy chairperson of the defense contractor Katmerciler. The company was cited as telling Anadolu Agency (AA) that the new armored vehicle vvill be unveiled alongside a nevv military Turkish vehicle that has never been seen before at the 15th International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) in istanbul in August. Katmerci said Kenya vvill be the third country in the world to acquire Katmerciler’s armored vehicles, adding that the fîrm aims to complete the delivery över tvvo years. “We also have vvork in different markets in the defense industry – export needs patience. You spend at least 1.5-2 years of effort. In the end, it either happens or it doesn’t. The process in Kenya vvas as we vvanted,” he said. The fully indigenous Hızır is a 400-horsepovver vehicle, vvhich provides high protection against mines and handmade explosives. It vvas produced for conflict conditions vvith high maneuverability and ballistic fortifıcation. It vvas designed to perform vvell under conditions of intense conflict in rural and urban areas, providing high-level protection. Having been developed to meet NATO standards and successfully passing ali performance and explosion tests, the vehicle vvas approved by an independent international testing organization. “We believe our exports vvill continue to rise as more of our vehicles are used in Africa and their visibility increases,” Katmerci said. Katmerciler exported a total of 989 vehicles and related equipment around the vvorld last year, according to company data. Kenya Defense Forces spokesperson Zipporah Kioko said in January that the country is focused on ensuring the survivability of its troops deployed in the fıght against al-Shabab militants from Somalia, thus the need to procure the 118 high-performance armored personnel carriers (APCs). “The Kenyan Army thus made a critical assessment and established that the contemporary operating environment has evolved significantly vvith majör threats to the APCs being Vehicle Borne IEDs (VBIEDs), directional IEDs and IEDs (improvised explosive devices) reinforced vvith complex ambushes,” said Kioko. She added that from a pool of three firms that bid to supply Kenya vvith APCs, only Katmerciler’s Hızır met ali the requirements, beating tvvo contenders from South Africa and North America. The Somali-based al-Qaida-affiliated alShabab militants have been targeting security officers patrolling the Kenyan-Somali border.