As part of his working visit to the city of Tursunzoda, President Emomali Rahmon yesterday attended an official opening ceremony of a military vehicle assembly plant, Sipar Guruh (Shield Group).  

The activities of this newly established enterprise appear mainly geared toward producing military automobiles, although it has capacity to build civilian vehicles too.

The Tajik president’s official website says Sipar Guruh enterprise was established within the framework of the Years of Industrial Development (2022 – 2026) and the implementation of the goals of the National Transport Complex Development Program for 2025.

The enterprise that was reportedly established in cooperation with development partners currently has capacity to assemble up to 17 different types of vehicles with imported components, but it plans to increase that number in future.

According to the Tajik president’s official website, the parts used for assembly are produced by STREIT Group, an armored vehicle manufacturer based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Sipar Guruh’s projected annual assembly of vehicles is set at 120 units, and in the future, taking into account the demand, this number will increase.

The vehicles being assembled at this enterprise are aimed at supplying the units of the Armed Forces of Tajikistan.  It is also planned to export it to foreign countries in the future, according to the Tajik president’s official website.

On a tour of the enterprise’s premises, President Emomali Rahmon and Majlisi Milli (Tajikistan’s upper house of parliament) Rustam Emomali were shown several exemplars of the kind of armored vehicles that the enterprise proposes to assembly.

The Tajik president’s official website noted that the facility would provide work for 100 people.

Tajikistan is also expected to have its own reserve of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).  Recall, the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Major-General Mohammad Bagheri traveled in Dushanbe in May 2022 to attend the opening of a facility for the assembling of Iranian-designed Ababil-2 tactical drones.