ZAHA is FNSS's clean-sheet tracked amphibious armored vehicle, built for the Turkish Navy's marines. It has now moved into a second production phase. According to project information released by the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) in September 2026, a contract amendment for 27 more vehicles has been signed, on top of the 27 delivered in phase one.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Builder | FNSS Defence Systems |
| User | Turkish Naval Forces Command (Marines) |
| Program | SSB ZAHA Project |
| Deliveries | Phase 1: 27 delivered; Phase 2: 27 more on contract |
| Timeline | Contract 2017; first delivery March 2023 |
What is the ZAHA?
ZAHA, short for Zırhlı Amfibi Hücum Aracı and marketed abroad as the MAV, is a ship-to-shore vehicle launched from the well deck of an amphibious ship. It swims to the beach under waterjet propulsion and then fights ashore as a tracked armored carrier. SSB describes its role as moving embarked troops safely from a dock landing ship to the shore.
Three variants were built: a personnel carrier, a command and control vehicle and a recovery vehicle. FNSS executives stressed at the launch that the vehicle was designed from scratch rather than adapted from an existing platform, which is rare in a segment dominated by older designs. The result is a vehicle whose hull, turret and mission variants are all owned by one Turkish company, which simplifies upgrades and future export packages.
Key features
The SSB fact sheet lists a 600 hp engine, a maximum land speed of 70 km/h, two waterjets, a 2 m trench-crossing ability and a 0.9 m vertical obstacle. The personnel carrier seats a crew of three plus 18 marines. Water speed has been reported at around 7 knots.
The armament is FNSS's in-house ÇAKA remote turret, which combines a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun with a 40 mm automatic grenade launcher.
Program, service and exports
ZAHA serves with the Turkish Navy's amphibious marine units and operates alongside the amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu. With phase two the fleet is set to reach 54 vehicles, enough to sustain a battalion-scale amphibious assault capability on a domestically designed platform.
There is no publicly confirmed export contract yet. The most concrete lead is Indonesia: on 20 April 2022 FNSS and state-owned PT Pindad signed a memorandum of understanding, witnessed by President Joko Widodo and then-Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, covering cooperation on the Indonesian Marine Corps' amphibious landing vehicle requirement.
The obvious reference is the US Marine Corps' tracked AAV7A1, which the Corps is replacing with the wheeled ACV 8×8, while South Korea's KAAV and China's ZBD-05 are other tracked examples. ZAHA pairs the sea-keeping of a tracked hull with a modern mine-protected design, an 18-troop cabin and a current-generation turret.
Source: Envanter Medya