750 Oshkosh M-ATVs for UAE Army

In a deal just announced at the IDEX event in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates' Union Defence Force is getting 750 armoured vehicles from Oshkosh Defence.

Worth $380 million, the contract signed at IDEX 2013 will see the United Arab Emirates Army get 750 of Oshkosh's M-ATV designs, as currently equip the US and Polish armies.

The M-ATV was used for the first time operationally in Afghanistan in 2009. Key features include a V-shaped hull - designed to help it withstand external explosions - a roof turret mounting to house a BGM-71 TOW missile launcher and the option of a Mk 19 grenade launcher or an M240 machine gun.

Its engine is a 7.2 litre Caterpillar C7 turbodiesel, generating 370 break horsepower and, crewed by a team of five, the M-ATV has a 320 mile range and a top speed of 65 miles per hour.

Oshkosh M-ATV

Each Oshkosh M-ATV currently has a price tag of approximately $480,000.

"This vehicle is in very high demand", Oshkosh Defence President, Major General John Urias, stated in comments quoted by the Arabian Business magazine.

"We built 8,800 of them in a very short period of time for US forces and now we are on contract in the UAE for vehicles and very shortly there will be other announcements within the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] region."

UAE Army M-ATV Deal

Besides the UAE Army M-ATV deal, also signed at IDEX 2013 was another UAE-US arms contract, this time for Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. In fact, no less than 15 other major arms contracts were signed during IDEX 2013's opening hours but not one involving the UAE's next-generation combat aircraft, since the competition between the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Dassault Rafale has not yet been settled.

Held every two years, IDEX is the Middle East's premier arms exhibition and it was first staged in 1993.

The Union Defence Force is comprised of the United Arab Emirates Army, United Arab Emirates Navy and United Arab Emirates Air Force. It employs around 65,000 personnel - a figure that gives it the world's highest rate of per-capita arms spending.