Rosoboronexport waiting for Kazakh order for new tank support combat vehicle

Paris, June 21 (Itar-Tass) -- Rosoboronexport is waiting for a Kazakh order for new tank support combat vehicle, head of the company's army department Vyacheslav Gubarev told Arms Tass at the Eurosatory 2008 arms show.

He said the new vehicle would be produced at Uralvagonzavod in Nizhny
Tagil.

"We brought a tank support combat vehicle to Kazakhstan in April and
showed it to President [Nursultan] Nazarbayev," Gubarev said. "Later on
Kazakh specialists visited Uralvagonzavod. A large delegation from
Kazakhstan will attend the arms show in Nizhny Tagil on July 9-12 to see
the tank support combat vehicle at work. As far as we know, they are
forming the order."

Kazakhstan still has to choose between the vehicle's platform: it
could be the chassis of the T-72 or T-90 tanks. Initially, it was planned
to use the T-72, as Kazakhstan inherited plenty of such tanks from the
former Soviet Union. However, estimates showed that it would be more
reasonable to use the T-90 chassis.

Israel is active in the modernization of Kazakh military hardware,
Rosoboronexport said. For instance, Israeli companies mounted D-130
howitzers on KamAZ trucks.

Russia should be more active in Kazakhstan in order not to lose the
market, Rosoboronexport said.