The South Caucasus country of Georgia on Saturday unveiled its first home-made armored infantry combat vehicle Lazika here in a presentation.

Lazika, with a combined armor that could protect against 14.5-mm caliber armor-penetration bullets, is equipped with 23-mm caliber cannons and 7.62-mm machine guns, according to military sources.

With such assistance as day-and-night thermal vision, the tracked vehicle can operate in all lighting conditions, the sources said.
Both President Mikheil Saakashvili and Defense Minister Bacho Akhalaia attended the presentation.

"Lazika is the No. 2 armored vehicle after Didgori although it is different in terms of purposes and characteristics," Akhalaia said.
He said Lazika is a "heavy armored, mobile and offensive vehicle" that has not been produced by many countries.

The 14-ton vehicle is the advanced model of Didgori, a Georgian-made armored personnel carrier family, which was unveiled during the country's independent day military parade on May 26, 2011.

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