YEREVAN. Jan 21 (Interfax-AVN) - Armenia will launch production of the first batch of Ike armored jeeps before May 2002, Karen Gevorkyan, author of the project and head of the Center of Promising Programs and Developments, said on Monday.
The first batch comprises 50 military- and civil-purpose jeeps, Gevorkyan told Interfax-Military News Agency.
The Ike is designed by the local YerAZ plant. It belongs to the class of heavy jeeps or universal all-wheel-drive off-roaders that have a broad range of application. The U.S. Hammer jeep is of the same class.
The new combat vehicle is twice cheaper than a tank. Besides, some of its specifications are superior to those of American and European analogues. In particular, it boasts a possibility to roll both front and rear axles and a special design of the rigid metal top.
The Ike was introduced to Armenian Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisyan and tested by experts of the Defense Ministry in December 2001. The sample that was put up for tests was armored and had the weight of 6t. The standard load of the vehicle is seven passengers and 1.5t of cargo.
Gevorkyan said the jeep was a symbiosis of Armenian and Russian scientific achievements, as the vehicle had Russian-made component parts. The Center of Promising Programs and Developments led by Gevorkyan is producing five more Ikes with different complete sets of engines, gearboxes, etc. Their tests will be held both in Armenia and at the Russian proving range near the town of Dmitrov, Moscow region.
According to Gevorkyan, the center is working on a radio- controlled vehicle intended for blasting anti-personnel mines and barrages. The vehicle will be used in the Nagorgy Karabakh autonomous region to destroy mines left after the Armenian- Azerbaijani war.