DUSHANBE, January 23, 2015, Asia-Plus — The United States is donating 328 armored vehicles to Uzbekistan”s military.
In an interview with the Voice of America (VOA)”s Uzbek service, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central Asia Daniel Rosenblum said on January 22 that the United States is giving 308 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs) and 20 Armored Recovery Vehicles to Uzbekistan.
It appears to be the largest transfer of MRAPs under the Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program to date.
New MRAPs reportedly cost about $1 million apiece, while armored recovery vehicles are priced at about $2 million each.
“They will all be provided to the Ministry of Defense and can only be used by the Ministry of Defense,” said Rosenblum. “These are definitely defensive vehicles, they are inherently defensive. Also, we consider them to be non-lethal. They are intended to protect personnel, crews and passengers in areas that there might be explosive devices, mines, so on.”
Rosenblum reportedly says the delivery began last December and the Uzbek government is covering the cost of transportation.
The top U.S. diplomat for the region says the Unites States has made similar offers to other Central Asian countries, and that Tajikistan and Kazakhstan have expressed interest. Rosenblum describes it as a two-way, transparent process, in which the United States assesses if they have excess equipment that is needed by others.
