MOSCOW, September 2. /TASS-DEFENSE/. Chechnya was the first to buy the new Ahmat Z-STS armored vehicle of Remdiesel, Chief Designer Igor Zarakhovich told TASS.
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Remdiesel Ahmat Z-STS displayed at Army-2022 defense forum (Picture source: Vitaly Kuzmin)
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov was the first to buy the vehicle called Ahmat after his father. He said: “Ahmat is a maneuverable vehicle that rapidly moves in city conditions with maximum safety for the personnel”.
Remdiesel began to produce Ahmat Z-STS 10-seat armored vehicle in March. It has the same protection as Typhoon and 6×6 wheel arrangement. It can operate in temperatures of minus 50 to plus 50 degrees Centigrade and 4,500 meters high in the mountains. The vehicle can be airlifted by Il-76, An-124 aircraft and transported by rail.
The first batches of Remdiesel Z-STS (Protected Special Vehicle) have already been manufactured, handed over to customers and put into operation, en.topwar.ru writes. At the same time, working on a new project took a minimum of time. Only a few months passed from receiving an order for development to shipping the first production vehicles.
Reportedly, the order for the development of the future Z-STS was received this spring, shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine. The Chechen security forces wanted to get an armored vehicle that was easy to manufacture and operate, with the ability to transport personnel and various cargoes, as well as with weapons for self-defense and fire support. The project development activities took only 25 days.
Already in early May, Remdiesel manufactured and handed over to the customer the first Z-STS units. On May 9 they were displayed at a military parade in Grozny. The vehicles were then sent to Ukraine where it were placed at the disposal of the special forces, hence having them tested immediately in real combat conditions.
On July 22, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, announced that a new batch of Z-STS had been purchased for the needs of the army, en.topwar.ru reports. Two dozen vehicles were shipped to Grozny by the manufacturer before being sent to Ukraine too.
Z-STS Ahmat is built on the 6x6 chassis of a KamAZ-5350. Some design elements were probably borrowed from serial armored vehicles. The level of protection of the case is declared as "very high", without disclosing specific indicators. No specific mine protection is reported but the harsh Ukraine war experience enables to assume that there is one, as the vehicle height makes it look like an MRAP.
Remdiesel Ahmat Z-STS displayed at Army-2022 defense forum (Picture source: Vitaly Kuzmin)
