UAE to Upgrade its Amphibious Infantry Fighting Vehicles

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has signed a deal with Rosoboronexport to upgrade the BMP-3 amphibious infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) used by its armed forces.

Under the $74m deal, the Russian state arms exporter will upgrade a total of 135 Russian-made BMP-3 IFVs, UAE Armed Forces official spokesman Major-General Obaid Al Hairi Salem Al Ketbi said.

The BMP-3 combat vehicles, acquired from Kurganmashzavod, feature a low-velocity 2A70 100mm rifled gun that can fire conventional HE-frag shells to demolish buildings.

The armoured vehicle can also fire long-range ATGMs, a 30mm auto-cannon and a medium machine gun as a single unit in the turret.

The UAE is the largest global operator of the vehicle and has about 600 IFVs in its inventory, according to Brahmand.