Kazakhstan is trying to sell military vehicles to its neighbors, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. In an interview with InformBuro, the general director of Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering (KPE), Erbol Salimov, stated that the firm is looking to export several types of military vehicles to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

Arlan Armoured Personnel Carrier at KADEX 2016, the Kazakhstan Defense Exhibition held in Astana (Picture source: Army Recognition)

Responding to a question about where KPE plans to sell its products beyond Kazakhstan, Salimov noted that the firm is focused on Central Asia. He said the Arlan, a locally-produced version of Plasan's Sand Cat, would be demonstrated soon in Uzbekistan and that the country was extremely interested in the vehicle. KPE's Alan, a locally-produced version of Paramount Group's Marauder, was demonstrated in Uzbekistan last year.

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan signed a military cooperation plan in August 2017, followed by an agreement on military-technical cooperation the following month.

Salimov did not discuss how many vehicles Uzbekistan is interested in purchasing. It is likely that Uzbekistan would equip its military as well as other security services with both Alan and Arlan.

According to Salimov, Turkmenistan is another potential Central Asian customer for the Kazakh vehicles. KPE is planning to send several Arlan vehicles for that country to test.

Turkmenistan purchased a number of military vehicles in recent years. Suppliers to the country include the UAE and Turkey.