Twiga’s latest vehicle, the 4×4 Nkwe (Leopard), has been unveiled at the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) 2024 exhibition, where it was displayed alongside the company’s larger Nyati armoured personnel carrier.
As a South African developed mine resistant vehicle, the Nkwe was designed between 2022 and 2024 and qualified this year, providing NATO STANAG Level 2 ballistic protection for personnel (stopping up to 7.62×39 mm armour piercing rounds) and Level 1 protection for the engine bay (grenade and anti-personnel mine protection) as well as Level 3a mine protection (8 kg under any wheel and under the centre of the hull).
It is powered by a four cylinder turbocharged Mercedes Benz 4.7 litre diesel engine providing 163 kW of power and 810 Nm of torque, driven through an eight speed manual-automatic transmission and giving a top speed of 100 km/h. Suspension is designed for tough off-road conditions while wheels are fitted with run flat inserts, central tyre inflation system, and anti-locking brakes.
The Nkwe is available in multiple versions, including armoured personnel carrier, weapon platform, and battlefield ambulance. It can be fitted with a turret as well. Twiga said the vehicle is suited for motorised infantry, counter-insurgency, special forces, and urban operations.
Gross vehicle mass (GVM) is 9 500 kg and seating is for eight plus two. The vehicle is air conditioned, and available in right or left hand drive. In addition to an optional turret for remote or manual weapon stations, the vehicle has ten gun ports.
“The Nkwe has been designed to enable easy transfer of technology for local manufacture and its,” according to Damian de Lange, CEO of Twiga Services & Logistics.
He explained that the Nkwe offers a new driveline upgrade for the Mamba and Nyoka armoured vehicles as the modern drive line components have been qualified for fitment into these two armoured vehicles. “This offering provides a completely new and more powerful driveline of the Mamba and Nyoka, enabling a saving on the hull manufacture and ensuring these legacy armoured vehicles have a supply of main components for the next two decades,” de Lange said.
The Nyoka 4×4 is based on the Mamba armoured personnel carrier. Twiga established a production line in Uganda for the assembly of these vehicles with its sister company Impala Services. Twiga in 2021 launched another APC, the Nyati. The mine- and ballistically-protected 4×4 was designed partly at the request of the launch customer Uganda and partly to meet modern requirements for a heavily armed, well protected and low-cost vehicle for African conditions. The Nyati is manufactured in Uganda as the Chui (Leopard) by the Armoured Vehicle Manufacturing and Assembly Facility.
