Abu Dhabi’s Nimr takes vehicle muscle to Europe

The UAE armoured vehicle maker has collaborated with a Czech military vehicle manufacturer to produce a European-spec version of its Ajban 440A.

Nimr’s Ajban 440A (left) configured to European specifications in collaboration with VOP CZ. Shown at the IDET fair in Czech Republic. Courtesy NIMR Automotive

While off-roading is a popular pursuit in this region, few commercial 4x4 vehicles anywhere on earth could cut it against the UAE firm Nimr’s latest offering.

At the 14th International Defence and Security Technology Fair, (IDET) in Brno, Czech Republic, VOP CZ and Nimr Automotive formally debuted their first military vehicle collaboration, the Ajban 440A configured to European specifications.

The partnership was announced in early 2017 and VOP CZ and Nimr’s design and engineering teams have worked together to bring this advanced platform to the European market. The vehicle has successfully completed trials under the gaze of military leaders from the Czech Armed Forces.

“The commitment being shown by both organisations to realise the collective vision of localising Nimr’s range of military vehicles in Europe is evident with the Ajban 440A present today at IDET,” said the VOP general manager, Marek Špok.

The arrival of the Europe-focused Ajban 440A comes at a time when countries across central and eastern Europe are undertaking the most significant defence modernisation programmes of the past two decades, including the replacement of ageing, legacy vehicles with modern military platforms.

Over the coming months, VOP CZ-Nimr vehicles will be put through their paces for potential customers across central and eastern Europe. The partnership provides a compelling offering to the region: combat proven technologies; localised production; and in situ support in Europe, the collaboration said.

“Nimr has already developed a strong reputation for its combat-proven vehicles that can perform in the harshest operational environments,” said the Nimr chief executive Fahad Saif Harhara. “We have now integrated our platform with VOP CZ’s world-class technology that we are confident addresses Nato member countries’ needs for a military grade fleet solution, providing greater protection and longer service-life than up-armoured commercial vehicles.”

Nimr is also displaying at IDET its newest vehicle line, the Rapid Intervention Vehicle (RIV). Designed to be internally transportable in a CH-47 Chinook heavy lift helicopter, and “featuring unrivalled power-to-weight ratio along with outstanding all-terrain tactical mobility, the Nimr RIV aims to meet the increasing demands of armed forces without compromising on competitiveness”, NIMR said. The RIV was engineered by Horiba Mira in the United Kingdom and jointly developed with Nimr.

“The future to growth is through these strategic partnerships and testament to the maturity of Nimr’s platforms,” Mr Harhara said.

VOP CZ is a state enterprise established by the ministry of defence of the Czech Republic. It is mainly active in development, manufacture, repairs, servicing and modernisation of ground military technology and it has manufactured 107 armoured Pandur II vehicles for the Czech Armed Forces and also provides the vehicle to other armed forces.

Today it employs over 850 people and in 2016 it generated in excess of 1.3 billion Czech koruna (Dh201.8 million) in revenue.

Nimr Automotive, a subsidiary of the Emirates Defence Industry Company. Its range of desert-proven 4x4 and 6x6 vehicles are available in armoured or non-armoured configurations, with modular configurable crew capacity and payload, where protection and mobility is the focus of design.

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