IZHEVSK. Jan 24 (Interfax) - After procuring 1,500 IVECO armored vehicles, the Russian Defense Ministry has suspended deliveries and does not plan to procure them in the future, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces Vladimir Chirkin told the press in Izhevsk.
"The contract for the further procurement of these vehicles from Italians has been suspended. Almost 1,500 have been paid for. We have almost assembled them, we are working on them," Chirkin said.
"We have families of Medved (Bear), Tigr (Tiger) and Volk (Wolf) vehicles and launched R&D permitting the development of a family of light armored automobiles in which combat modules could be installed," Chirkin said.
He said that unlike them, IVECO "can only put on 150 more kilos."
"In this respect, IVECO has no prospects," he said.
"We will set our eyes on the domestic manufacturer," he summed up.
At the end of December, Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov announced that in 2012-2013 the Italian company will deliver 358 IVECO armored vehicles through Oboronservice company.