Azerbaijan may begin mass production of armored vehicles in 2017 - defense industry minister
BAKU. July 12 (Interfax) - Azerbaijan plans to begin mass production of armored vehicles in 2017, Defense Industry Minister Yaver Jamalov said.
"We plan to prepare jointly with foreign partners and to demonstrate domestic armored vehicles Ildyrym [Lightning] and Qasyrga [Storm] at the ADEX 2016 exhibition [in Baku in September]; their mass production is due to begin already in 2017," Jamalov said at an expanded meeting of the government dedicated to socioeconomic performance of the republic in the first half of this year.
Another project is Mizrak anti-tank guided missile systems to be mounted on BRDM-2M armored personnel carriers, he said. "These combat vehicles will be supplied to the Azerbaijani Armed Forces soon," he said.
Azerbaijan made 192.2 million manats' ($124 million) worth of defense products in the first half of 2016, Jamalov said.
The ministry is set to create aerial bombs, defense systems for crucial facilities and intermediate and long-range missile systems, he said.