Turkey delivers 50 units of mine-resistant armored vehicles to Ukraine

Europe, Middle East, News August 25, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

The Turkish government has delivered 50 units of Kirpi mine-resistant and ambush-protected armored vehicles to the Ukrainian military.

The delivery of the vehicles come after the Turkish government made an agreement with Ukraine. According to the sources of Turkish government officials, “Under the deal, the Turkish Ministry of National Defence delivered an initial batch of 50 Kirpis to Ukraine.” The officials also confirmed that Turkiye plans to deliver more units in the coming months.

Turkiye’s Kirpi (Hedgehog) Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicles are manufactured by BMC (British Motor Company) in Turkey; however, the deal does not directly involve BMC with Ukraine. The Turkish government would procure the BMC Kirpi vehicles and send them to Ukraine. According to the officials from BMC, “This deal does not involve our company in any way, The Ankara government delivered a batch of Kirpis it had in its military inventory.”

Kirpi 1 is a heavy armored troops carrier vehicle. The vehicle was initially designed in 2008 and the first prototype was available in 2009. The Turkish government placed the first order of 641 Kirpi 1 vehicles. Currently, Turkish Land Forces hold more than 1500 Kirpi vehicles. BMC also sold more than 200 units of Kirpi vehicles to international customers.

Turkey's Kirpi mine-resistant and ambush-protected vehicle — *^{Turkey’s Kirpi mine-resistant and ambush-protected vehicle. (Image Credit: BMC)}*

In 2018, BMC introduced the upgraded version called the Kirpi 2, for which the company secured a contract of 529 units. The Kirpi vehicles are used by Turkish Land Forces at the Syrian-Turkish border clashes, Turkish-ISIS clashes, and Libyan Civil War.

The 6 meters long and 2.5 meters wide vehicle weighs 20,000 kilograms and holds 13 passengers at one time in its 3.2 meters high cabin. The vehicle is armored with STANAG level 3 armored protection that makes it mine-resistant. The vehicle is also equipped with a 7.2 or 12.7 mm machine gun and it can run at a maximum speed of 60 kilometers per hour for 1000 kilometers with a full fuel tank through its Cummins ISL9E3 375 Euro-3 diesel engine.

According to sources, the first batch of 50 Kirpi units from Turkiye consists of used vehicles, however, it is expected that the upcoming batches would consist of new vehicles.