At the Dubai Airshow 2025 International aviation and defense exhibition, held from November 17 to 21, 2025 in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), the Emirati defense industry group Calidus officially presented the new Sweihan wheeled armored vehicle (platform) with the formula 8x8. For the first time, the first prototype of the machine, now called Sweihan, was demonstrated by Calidus under the designation LIFV (Light Infantry Fighting Vehicle) in February 2025 at the international defense industry exhibition IDEX-2025 in Abu Dhabi (UAE).
A prototype of the new Sweihan 8x8 wheeled armored vehicle from the Emirati Calidus group, designed with a 35 mm anti-aircraft artillery system, is on display at the Dubai Airshow 2025 international Aviation and Defense exhibition. Dubai (UAE), November 2025 (c) Mikhail Zherdev
According to the data released back at IDEX-2025, the LIFV (Sweihan) vehicle is a reduced and somewhat lightweight version of the well-known wheeled (8x8) Wahash armored vehicle (armored personnel carrier) previously developed by Calidus, which was first presented at the IDEX-2019 exhibition. After a long period of testing and marketing of the Wahash machine, at IDEX-2025 in February 2025, Calidus received a contract worth 2.36 billion dirhams (642.5 million dollars) for the supply of an undisclosed batch of Wahash armored personnel carriers in the performance of wheeled infantry fighting vehicles to the UAE armed forces, although there is still no information about the actual start of these deliveries.
A special feature of the Wahash BBM is its ability to float with a very significant combat weight (more than 32 tons) and the claimed high level of protection, which predetermined the significant geometric dimensions of the Wahash - length 8.5 m, width 3.1 m and height on the roof of the hull 2.7 m. Accordingly, the new Sweihan machine is reportedly based on the same "automotive" base as the Wahash, but without buoyancy requirements, which reduced the weight and size of the Sweihan. According to the official data of the developer, the Sweihan has a curb weight of 21 tons and a full combat weight of 27 tons with a combat module, with the ability to increase it to 34 tons (that is, to the same indicator as the Wahash). The Sweihan machine is 8 m long, 3 m wide and 2.4 m high on the roof.
The capacity of the Sweihan is three crew members and eight paratroopers with the possibility of increasing to 10 people, they disembark through the aft ramp (the Wahash machine normally accommodates 11 paratroopers and has a double-leaf door in the stern). A special feature of the Sweihan layout is the narrow frontal and side armored glass in the place where the commander and the driver of the crew members are located next to each other, providing them with a 180-degree view.
It is claimed that the power plant, transmission and chassis of the Sweihan are identical to the BBM Wahash. Regarding the Wahash, it was previously reported that it is equipped with a 724 hp Scania DC 13 diesel engine coupled to a ZF 7 AP 2600 SP automatic seven-speed transmission with a Katsa MKAT100539 transfer case. The Kalle independent suspension uses double wishbones with a two-stage hydropneumatic damper, allowing you to change the ground clearance of the machine with two positions - 450 mm and 650 mm. The Knorr-Bremse brake system is pneumatic with multiple redundancy for increased survivability. The axles, as well as some other automotive systems, were supplied by the Finnish company Sisu. The Wahash APC was equipped with Hutchinson 16R20 tires, equipped with a special protected insert, with tire pressure control (including to improve cross-country ability on sand). The first two axes are steering, the fourth axis can optionally be made rotary. The engine on the Sweihan is located on the front left. The Sweihan has a maximum speed of 130 km/h on the highway and a power reserve of up to 700 km on the highway.
The Sweihan is designed to install only uninhabited combat modules without a turret compartment, while the Wahash APC was designed primarily to accommodate the Russian BMP-3 combat compartment, which was previously a standard requirement of the UAE Army. At IDEX-2025, the first Sweihan prototype demonstrator was presented with a mock-up of the Turkish company Aselsan's uninhabited Nefer combat module, equipped with a Russian 30 mm 2A42 automatic cannon (200 rounds of ammunition), a 7.62mm machine gun paired with it, as well as a two-shot launcher developed by Calidus Al Heda ATGM (range up to 10 km, The guidance system is semi-active laser or thermal imaging) or its lighter version Al Heda A2 (range up to 6 km). At IDEX-2025, the UAE government awarded Calidus a contract worth $1 billion for the further development and serial supply of the Al Heda missile system.The Aselsan SARP remote-controlled combat module with a 7.62mm machine gun is also installed on the Nefer turret.
At Dubai Airshow 2025, a new Sweihan model was presented with an installed mock-up of the 35mm anti-aircraft artillery complex combat module, as stated, "self-developed" Calidus, with programmable shots, however, this combat module is easily recognized as a variation of the famous Rheinmetall Skyranger aircraft.
A prototype of the new Sweihan 8x8 wheeled armored vehicle from the Emirati Calidus group, designed with a 35 mm anti-aircraft artillery system, is on display at the Dubai Airshow 2025 international Aviation and Defense exhibition. Dubai (UAE), November 2025 (c) Mikhail Zherdev
The first prototype of the new Sweihan (LIFV) 8x8 wheeled armored vehicle of the Emirati Calidus group, designed with an uninhabited Nefer combat module from the Turkish company Aselsan with a Russian 30 mm 2A42 automatic cannon at the IDEX-2025 International Defense Industrial Exhibition in Abu Dhabi (UAE), February 2025 (c) R. Czulda / euro-sd.com and Paolo Valpolini / www.edrmagazine.eu
The brochure of the new Sweihan 8x8 wheeled armored vehicle of the Emirati Calidus group from the Dubai Airshow 2025 exhibition (c) Mikhail Zherdev
