Russian private military company Wagner Group are operating the Nigerian-made Proforce Ara II mine resistant and ambush protected vehicle (MRAP) in Mali.
Wagner soldiers were photographed using a white-painted Ara II MRAP. The Proforce Ara II armored vehicles were likely abandoned in Kidal by MINUSMA forces during its rushed departure from Mali. The Chadian contingent stationed there left the vehicles behind.
In 2022, the Chadian government signed a contract with Proforce for the sale of 100 improved Ara (Ara 2) mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles.
The business was first finalised in June 2019 and deliveries are expected to begin before the end of the year in successive batches of five vehicles. The deal was signed after South Africa’s Denel failed to supply 40 Military Vehicles to Chad in an order signed in 2017. The Chadian Government paid R100 Million as a down payment for these vehicles. The total cost was between R230 Million and R250 Million.
Chad subsequently cancelled the contract with Denel, and even threatened to report Denel and South Africa to the International Court of Justice if its deposit was not returned.
Two years after the debacle, the Chadian Government opted for 20 Proforce Ara II MRAPs, with the option for a 100 more.
N’Djamena’s decision to procure the Proforce Ara 2 comes after a major incursion by the Union of Resistance Forces (UFR) from Libya which was halted by French airstrikes alongside Chadian ground troops.
The Ara 2 MRAP has the capacity to carry up to 12 personnel plus equipment and can be configured into multiple variants including recovery, command and control, ambulance, field kitchen and reconnaissance. The vehicle can be armed with a 12.7 mm machinegun can be mounted on a 360-degree roof turret which can be open or fully enclosed.