Arzamas Machine-Building Plant (AMZ) is an industrial enterprise in the Arzamas (disambiguation) in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, specializing in the production of wheeled armored vehicles. The plant has operated since the 1960s and is one of the key enterprises of the Russian defense-industrial complex in the field of light armored vehicles.
Armored vehicle production
Since 1986 the plant has produced the BTR-80 armored personnel carrier (factory designation GAZ-5903), taking over production from the Gorky Automobile Plant, which had built the vehicles from 1983 to 1985. The BTR-80 was adopted by the Soviet Army in 1982 and differed from its predecessor, the BTR-70, chiefly in its power plant: instead of a pair of carbureted engines, it was fitted with a single, more powerful diesel engine. In addition, large two-leaf hatches for troop boarding and disembarkation appeared in the hull sides — the earlier arrangement, with side hatches between the wheel wells, had proven dangerous under fire. The vehicle's combat weight grew from 11.5 to 13.6 tonnes, but overall mobility was preserved, and the operating range increased.
In addition to the BTR-80, AMZ produces the GAZ-2330 "Tigr", a multipurpose, high-mobility armored vehicle developed at the Gorky Automobile Plant. The project's history goes back to 1999: the customer was the military department of the United Arab Emirates, which allocated 60 million dollars for the development and manufacture of prototype vehicles. The first vehicles, under the designation Tiger HMTV, were shown in Abu Dhabi at the IDEX-2001 international arms exhibition. The customer liked the vehicles, but a supply contract was never signed.
Presence on the internet
The plant's official website, amz.nnov.ru, operated in the Nizhny Novgorod nnov.ru domain from at least 1998 to 2003; the page was maintained by INFORIS)".