Nimr to unveil second-generation military vehicles at Idex

Ajban 4x4 and Hafeet 6x6 offer high level of protection in the harshest of environments

NIMR to unveil next generation Ajban and Hafeet armoured vehicles during Idex next week. Courtesy: Nimr

Abu Dhabi defence firm Nimr, which manufactures heavy armoured vehicles, will unveil its second-generation Ajban 4x4 and Hafeet 6x6 armoured vehicles during the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (Idex 2021).

Ajban and Hafeet are both armoured patrol vehicles used by the military.

“Featuring advanced blast mitigation and ballistic protection, the new platforms provide high levels of protection in the harshest of environments,” Nimrsaid in a statement on Wednesday.

The new vehicles also “boast enhanced maintainability with a significantly reduced time frame required to remove a vehicle's power pack – down from 10 hours to just 20 minutes”.

Maximum payload capacity for the vehicles has also been doubled from 1.2 tonnes to 2.5 tonnes, the company said.

Nimr, which is part of defence conglomerate Edge, manufactures combat-proven, high-performance light and medium-weight wheeled military vehicles. It also provides after-sales service for a range of military vehicles.

“We are confident that our latest platform ranges will help us build on our achievements spanning more than two decades to ensure the sustainability of NIMR in the years to come,” Abri du Plessis, chief executive of Nimr, said.

A Nimr vehicle patrols the desert near their production facility in the Tawazun Industrial Park in the Al Ajban area of Abu Dhabi. All photos Christopher Pike / The National

The company produces advanced military vehicles at the sprawling plant.

Assembly begins with a skeleton of a vehicle, with each part added piece by piece until a complete military machine is created.

The steel for its vehicles is cut and forged in a smaller facility in Al Ain and the vehicles are assembled in Tawazun, which has its own testing track.

Nimr's vehicles must be able to withstand whatever insurgents, terrorists or enemy armies can throw at them.

The company is part of the Edge Group and supplies the UAE Armed Forces along with exporting to countries in North Africa and Jordan.

Gulf countries, particularly the UAE and Saudi Arabia, are increasingly localising the production of military equipment.

Technology transfers and commitments to produce and buy equipment locally have become important factors in determining which companies secure major arms sales orders in the region.

Edge, which was founded in 2019 in Abu Dhabi, is an advanced technology group that ranks among the top 25 military suppliers in the world, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Idex and Navdex will run from February 21 to February 25 with a record number of exhibitors and participating countries expected to attend, organisers said.