04 August 2022

Turkey completes MEMATT mine clearing vehicle deliveries to Azerbaijan

by Cem Devrim Yaylali

Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defence has received 13 more MEMATT mine-clearance vehicles, ASFAT announced on 30 July. (ASFAT)

The Azerbaijan Armed Forces have received 13 additional Mekanik Mayın Temizleme Teçhizatı (Mechanical Mine Clearing Equipment, MEMATT) remote-controlled mine-clearing vehicles from Turkey's Military Factory and Shipyard Operations (ASFAT), bringing the total number of vehicles delivered to 20.

Azerbaijan signed the contract for the vehicles with ASFAT in December 2002 and the first pair was delivered in February 2021.

This was followed by the delivery of two vehicles to Burkina Faso in May 2021 and two units to Togo in October 2021. Six more MEMATT vehicles will be delivered to the Turkish Ministry of National Defense's National Mine Action Center (MAFAM).

Azerbaijan uses the vehicles mainly in Nagorno-Karabakh to clear minefields in the Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Agdam, Kalbajar, and Khojavend districts.

MEMATT is a mine clearing unmanned ground vehicle that can be remotely operated up to a distance of 5 km. Its battery life is more than eight hours, and it has a maximum speed of 4 km/h when deploying, falling to 0.5–1 km/h when mine clearing. The platform is fitted with Armox 500T reinforced steel armour and has a V-shaped hull designed to deflect explosions equivalent to 8 kg of TNT. MEMATT can clear 950–1,900 m ² /h, depending on the vegetation.

The vehicle can be transported in a 40-foot high cube container, on a flatbed trailer, or by a C-130 transport aircraft.

The Azerbaijan Armed Forces have received 13 additional Mekanik Mayın Temizleme Teçhizatı (Mechanica...

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