FNSS ZAHA Marine Assault Vehicle

History

Turkey's defense procurement agency, then the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (SSM) and now the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), signed a contract with FNSS in Ankara on 7 March 2017 to develop and build an armored amphibious assault vehicle for the Turkish Naval Forces Command ^[5][6]. The order was for 27 vehicles: 23 personnel carriers, two command and control vehicles and two recovery vehicles ^[5][6]. FNSS showed a scale model at the Indo Defence exhibition in Jakarta in November 2018 and launched the full-size vehicle at the IDEF 2019 defense exhibition in Büyükçekmece, Istanbul, in May 2019 ^[7].

In December 2021 SSB head İsmail Demir announced that the ZAHA had passed its mine and ballistic tests and had entered a final phase of cruising reliability and qualification tests, and Janes reported that all 27 vehicles were then due in 2022 ^[8]. The first vehicles reached the navy's Amphibious Marine Brigade on 25 March 2023 ^[1][3]. On 26 May 2023 the 27 vehicles formally entered the Turkish Armed Forces inventory at a ceremony at FNSS's facilities in Gölbaşı, Ankara ^[9].

The ZAHA was designed to operate from TCG Anadolu, the amphibious assault ship the navy received earlier in 2023 ^[3][8]. In its first naval exercise, held from 1 to 4 June 2023, ZAHAs left the ship's well deck, moved at sea and landed on a beach, according to FNSS's parent company Nurol Holding ^[10]. On 18 February 2026, during NATO's Steadfast Dart 2026 exercise, Turkish armored amphibious assault vehicles carried troops ashore from TCG Anadolu at the Putlos training area on Germany's Baltic coast ^[11]. FNSS identified the vehicles as ZAHAs ^[12].

At the SAHA Expo in Istanbul in May 2026, the SSB signed a contract with FNSS for a second batch of 27 ZAHAs for the navy's amphibious infantry brigade ^[13]. FNSS has also looked for export customers. In April 2022 it signed a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia's PT Pindad, linked to the Indonesian Marine Corps' need for new amphibious armored vehicles, Army Recognition reported, but no export order was found in the sources consulted ^[14].

Design and how it works

The ZAHA runs on tracks and has a fully sealed aluminum hull shaped for movement through water ^[7][8]. It can right itself if it capsizes ^[2][3]. A diesel power pack at the front of the hull drives a fully automatic transmission ^[2][7]. Defence Turkey gives the engine output as 600 hp and the weight as 30 metric tons (about 33 short tons), figures that match the power-to-weight ratio of 20 hp per ton that FNSS publishes ^[2][6]. The top road speed is 70 km/h (43 mph) ^[2].

Afloat, two waterjets at the rear of the hull drive the vehicle at up to 7 knots (13 km/h, or 8 mph) ^[2][6]. It is fitted with a hydraulic trim vane, an integrated smoke generator and cathodic corrosion protection, and Defence Turkey reports that it can operate in seas up to sea state 4 ^[2][6]. Troops board and leave through a hydraulic ramp at the rear ^[3][6]. FNSS lists room for 21 people including the commander, driver and gunner, which Defence Turkey describes as a crew of three and 18 marines; other reports give 21 troops plus the crew ^[2][6][7].

The roof carries FNSS's ÇAKA remote-controlled turret, armed with a 12.7 mm machine gun and a 40 mm automatic grenade launcher ^[3][6]. FNSS keeps the ballistic and mine protection levels classified but says they exceed those of earlier vehicles of this type ^[2]. Standard equipment includes automatic fire suppression, CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) protection and air conditioning ^[2][3]. Besides the personnel carrier, the family includes command, recovery and mine clearance versions ^[6][7].

The ZAHA fills the same ship-to-shore role as the US Marine Corps' AAV7, a tracked amphibian that swims with waterjets, carries up to 21 troops and served the Marine Corps from 1972 to 2025 ^[15].

The uncrewed U-MAV

On 20 August 2026 FNSS unveiled the U-MAV, also called İ-ZAHA, at the TEKNOFEST Mavi Vatan event at the Gölcük Naval Shipyard Command in Kocaeli ^[4][17]. FNSS, which is fully owned by Nurol Holding, designed it to take crews out of the first wave of an amphibious assault, the phase with the highest risk ^[4][16]. Working as a team with crewed ZAHAs, it is meant to reach the beach first, engage shore defenses, clear mines and obstacles and then support the landing ^[4].

The U-MAV is a four-wheeled vehicle with an amphibious combat weight of about 8 tonnes (8.8 short tons) and a 300 hp power pack ^[4][16]. FNSS gives it the same speeds as the ZAHA: 7 knots (13 km/h) in the water and 70 km/h (43 mph) on land ^[4]. It can run autonomously, by remote control or in a hybrid mode, with a line-of-sight radio range of 3 km (1.9 miles) that can be extended by a drone relay ^[4]. Mission modules can be changed in the field in about 40 minutes, giving ten configurations that include fire support, mine clearance, electronic warfare, counter-drone and casualty evacuation ^[4][17]. The sources found describe only its unveiling and report no order ^[16][17].

Photos

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