Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering (KPE), the joint venture between Paramount Group and Kazpetromash, has announced the latest delivery of Arlan 4×4 armoured personal carriers (APCs) to the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering has over the past four years delivered several batches of Arlan APCs to the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan, where they have since been put into operation.
The Arlan, the winterised variant of Paramount Group’s Marauder, is designed to operate in extreme environments to meet the ever-growing array of mission requirements undertaken by Kazakhstan’s Armed Forces, such as quick reaction force operations, infantry fire support or long-range border patrol.
The vehicle has been designed to operate in the diverse conditions of Kazakhstan and the greater Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), with features including pre-ignition engine heating and a dynamic temperature control system that can carry personnel safely and comfortably in winter conditions (as low as – 50 degrees Celsius) and summer temperatures (up to 50 degrees Celsius).
The Arlan armoured vehicles are all locally manufactured (comprising up to 70% local content) at the 15 000 square metre KPE armoured vehicle production facility in Nursultan. Over two-hundred Kazakhstanis are presently employed by Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering, providing modern equipment for Kazakhstan’s Special Operations Forces and its Ministry of Defence. The facilities serve as a centre for excellence and high-skills employment, with the capacity to produce hundreds of armoured vehicles per year, Paramount said.
John Craig, Executive Chairman of Paramount Land Systems, stated that, “The COVID-19 pandemic and particularly, its direct ramifications to global supply chains has underscored the critical impetus behind governments honing their home-grown capabilities and emboldening their defence industrial complexes to remain resilient in the face of often-fluctuating circumstances and their exogenous aftershocks”.
The Arlan features a double-skin monocoque, V-shaped hull structure that provides ballistic protection against 7.62 mm and 5.56 mm rounds, blast protection against mine explosions of 8 kg TNT beneath its hull or beneath any wheel and a 50 kg TNT side blast explosion.
The Arlan can carry a payload of up to 4 500 kg, reach a top speed of 120 km/h and ford depths of 1.2 metres.
The vehicle, accommodating two crew members and up to seven troops, is equipped with a nuclear, biological and chemical protection system (NBC), along with a mechanical 12.7 mm machinegun turret. The Arlan can carry extra fuel tanks, water and additional combat supplies, with optional add-ons including a Winterisation Kit and Central Tyre Inflation System (CTIS), alongside various weapon and fire suppression systems.
“In 2022, maintaining security of supply in the defence arena will be a key priority for governments across the globe. Accordingly, the successful delivery of this latest fleet of Arlans to the customer emblemizes not only our legacy of delivering highly customised solutions on time and on budget, but also our partners’ pragmatic role in mitigating the impact of global threats. KPE is indeed a strategic cornerstone of Kazakhstan’s technological prowess,” Craig concluded.
