Ecuador received the first 20 Cobra II military tactical vehicles, of the approximately 200 units with which its Armed Forces will be reinforced. Photo Armed Forces
Ecuador received the first 20 Cobra II military tactical vehicles, of the approximately 200 units with which its Armed Forces will be reinforced, its Joint Command reported this Monday, August 7, 2023 in a statement.
This first batch was landed in the port of Guayaquil with the aim of beginning to “mobilize in a short time the soldiers of the Armed Forces to carry out missions, including counterterrorist operations,” he said.
“The Armed Forces will improve their operational capabilities with special attention to the fight against drug trafficking and organized criminal groups that currently haunt Ecuadorian society,” he added.
COBRA II tactical vehicles have the capacity to transport 11 armed and equipped soldiers, for the fulfillment of special counterterrorist missions, applying all security measures, especially in conflictive areas at the national level.#FFAAContigo pic.twitter.com/ByDa4lnp5E
— FFAAECUADOR (@FFAAECUADOR) August 7, 2023
The Joint Command of the Armed Forces of Ecuador highlighted that the Cobra II, manufactured by the Turkish company Otokar, stands out for its “wide versatility, with great capacity for access to all types of terrain, and with state-of-the-art technology, as an autonomous system communication with other vehicles of its type.
These units, with the capacity to transport eleven armed and equipped soldiers, are armored against projectiles or improvised explosive devices, and are equipped with a 12.7-millimeter caliber machine gun and a night vision system to operate at night.
This first batch of Cobra IIs arrive in Ecuador in the midst of a crisis of violence and insecurity in the country, caused by a rise in crime, organized crime and drug trafficking, which has become strong on the Ecuadorian coast and has turned its ports into large springboards to ship cocaine to Europe and North America,
Ecuador closed 2022 with the highest rate of violent deaths in its history, registering 25.32 per 100,000 inhabitants. EFE