Kazakh Company Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering (KPE) could supply 4x4 armoured vehicle ARLAN to Uzbekistan. The Company KPE KPE is the joint venture between Paramount Group, the African-based global defence and aerospace business, and Kazakhstan Engineering Distribution.

Arlan 4x4 armoured vehicle at KADEX, Defense Exhibition in Kazakhstan, May 2016.

In November 2015, KPE has started the production of an indigenous version of Paramount Group’s iconic armoured combat vehicle, the Marauder. The new winterised variant of the Marauder, called Arlan, was designed and developed following extensive collaboration with the Kazakhstan military and rigorous trials to meet the specific operational requirements of the Kazakhstan military.

KEP CEO Erbol Salimov said that Uzbek officials had expressed interest in the Arlan. The vehicle will be tested by Uzbekistan's Ministry of Defense.

The two countries signed an agreement on military-technical cooperation earlier this month, during a visit by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to Uzbekistan. The document states, "The implementation of the agreement will help strengthen bilateral cooperation based on the principles of equality and reciprocity in the military-technical sphere."

The military-technical cooperation agreement follows last month's bilateral agreement focusing on joint operational and combat training between the two countries.