Marauder (vehicle)
The Marauder is an armoured, mine-protected vehicle that is produced by Paramount Group in South Africa. It was launched during the 2007 International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) and Conference in Abu Dhabi, the largest arms exhibition in the Middle East. Design and specifications. The Marauder was developed for reconnaissance and peacekeeping missions. It carries a crew of up to ten including the driver and commander. Designed to operate in urban, built-up, and confined areas, it is smaller in size and weight than the Matador, a similarly-armored vehicle. Vehicle configuration is either 4x4 or a 6x6. The  Marauder has a cruising speed of around , and a maximum range of . The Marauder double monocoque hull provides protection against projectiles up to STANAG 4569 Level III for the crew compartment. The Marauder payload capacity allows for the fitting of various defense and weapons systems, including light and medium-caliber machine guns, cannon weapon installations, and missile launchers, as well as command-surveillance-control systems. The vehicle can be configured so mortars may be fired from the payload platform. Production. Russia. In 2022 the Marauder has been spotted in Mariupol during the Russo-Ukrainian War. Jordan. In 2008, for the  manufacturing and production of the Marauder, the Paramount Group entered into an agreement with the King Abdullah Design and Development Bureau (KADDB), Jordan’s primary governmental military agency that develops and manufactures defence systems, and which serves as an independent technical advisor to the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF). As well as being a manufacturer, Jordan was the first customer for the Marauder. Azerbaijan. The Marauder is also manufactured in Azerbaijan by the Ministry of Defence Industry of Azerbaijan through a joint agreement with Paramount. Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan Engineering makes the Marauder under licence as the Arlan under the joint-venture Kazakhstan  Paramount Engineering after their announcement in 2018. In the same year, they announced 70% of their radios and remote-control weapon-stations were local-made. Near Astana, construction of the factory started in 2014, and was complete a year later. Singapore. The Marauder is manufactured in Singapore by ST Engineering in collaboration with Paramount and the Defence Science and Technology Agency. This was based on a 2012 agreement with Paramount to work together in manufacturing and marketing the vehicle. The variants made under the Belrex label consist of security, engineer, reconnaissance, logistics, fuel, medical, signal, maintenance, and ammunition & mortar carrier . The base platform comes in three basic crew compartment sizes: four, eight and ten.