Infantry Mobility Vehicles

http://vpk.name/news/66161_mvd_spasaet_tigrov_olega_deripaski.html

Russian MVD will keep buying Tigers and they will also develop NBC recce version, which MVD will get in 2015.

The Russian Armed Forces will take delivery of the first 57 Italian Lince (Lynx) light multirole armored vehicles (LMV) before the end of the current year, Defense Ministry press secretary Irina Kovalchuk said on Wednesday.

“These machines will go primarily to the Southern Military District,” she said.

The district incorporates Russia’s troubled North Caucasus republics.

Russia signed a deal with Italy’s Iveco company in December on the semi-knocked down assembly of Lynx vehicles in the central Russia city of Voronezh.



Localization of production at the Voronezh plant is currently 10 percent, Kovalchuk said, adding that by 2014 it is to reach 50 percent.



Lynx is a light multirole armored vehicle developed in 2001 by Iveco Defense Vehicles. It ensures high mobility and protection against anti-tank and anti-personnel mines.

http://www.en.ria.ru/world/20120314/172163010.html

For a short while they were mistaken as the first "Boomerang" prototype. Turns out it is the "Karatelia" that is being developed by ZIL.





Info from these sources:

http://twower.livejournal.com/761600.html

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/189137.html

I'll let the people with better Russian language skills than mine to provide further details from the above sites.

I think the big question here is how much that thing will cost. Looks very expensive.

Still awesome though.

Alpha and Vympel driving around in one of those? I like the thought of that. How much protection do you think it offers? Small arms resistance? .50 cal?

Who knows, maybe the final version will have some of that nano tech ballistic armor those Russian scientists have been working on.

Some good news about the Volk program: 3 vehicles configurations (two 4x4 and one 6x6) will be tested. Entry in service is hoped to be in 2014. The vehicle has modular arrangement and can be easily converted to carry machineguns, mortars, SAMs etc.

http://vpk-news.ru/news/703/

My own guess: If the tests are successfull and the vehicle is adopted in service, among the first recipients will be the VDV.

Good news, that they will continue with testings and development. Volk is very versatile vehicle and could be used for a lot of different tasks.

I really hope there's a civilian version in a few years, I wouldn't mind owning one as long as the engine is strong.

Do we know what RWS it will be getting?

GarryB wrote:Don't think the civilian version will come with a RWS...

I would think they would have a range of RWS in development including rifle calibre machineguns through HMGs and grenade launchers to cannon and ATGMs.

I've never seen a picture of the VPK-3927 Volk with any kind of RWS. There's not that many that were built for testing, at least three I know of (standard 4x4, open back 6x6, closed back 6x6), and none of which have any weapon systems. I just think it's a little odd, especially during state trials.

IMO, based off of what is known, Volk looks a lot more capable than the Tiger, plus the hydraulic suspension will make it a better platform for the VDV. Hopefully a pic of an armed VPK-3927 shows up soon.

Sorry for my late reply Garry.

Actually according to This article, the Karatelia only has level 5 protection, which as far as I know is only rated to stop up to 7.62x54, so maybe an SVD loaded with AP rounds at the most? Not that there's anything wrong with that of course.

Well of course it doesn't need to be protected against .50 cal. I was just answering my own question more than anything.

It looks like something from Red Faction. All it needs is some Mars landscape for the background.

[quote="GarryB"]

It could be 50 cal resistant, but unlikely to stop SLAP rounds or even full bore AP... but keep in mind that heavily sloped armour can cause full calibre bullets to bounce off so even if it wont actually stop 50 cal it might deflect the odd round just because of its shape.

Many western critics talk about the thin armour on the BMDs and claim it is because the Russian government and military don't care about the lives of their soldiers... the irony is that the western equivalents of the VDV didn't have any armoured troop carriers at all at the time so not only were they less protected they were also less mobile and had less fire power.

I realise you are not in that category, but when I see the "dune buggy" western vehicles with no armour at all like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_Strike_Vehicle

I wonder why those same western experts don't criticise these vehicles for their lack of protection... even just from the weather and dust...

The experts can't say anything bad about America Garry, if they did then the kids would have nothing to brag about on Youtube.

You seem to have mistaken my posts about the Karatelia's armor protection as some kind of judgement against it. On the contrary, I was actually just really interested in the vehicle and wanted to know what level of protection it was. It looked so futuristic I wouldn't have been surprised if somebody said it could stop a tank round

In all seriousness though, Level 5 is not a bad amount of armor at all for a vehicle of that class, better than most actually. Definitely better than a Humvee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tExVQbsaDFg&feature=related

Summer tests do not look any better than Winter for the Iveco.

TR1 wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tExVQbsaDFg&feature=related

Summer tests do not look any better than Winter for the Iveco.

Every time I hear about the Iveco I hate it more and more.

Great info and lots of photos about project Karatelia, but my Russian language skills are just inadequate. Maybe someone can provide more insight.

Part 1: http://rusautomobile.blogspot.com/2012/03/blog-post_28.html#!/2012/03/blog-post_28.html
Part 2: http://rusautomobile.livejournal.com/219735.html

The Russian Federation will not make large-scale purchases of foreign armored vehicles, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Friday at an arms exhibition in the Urals.

"We will not make large-scale purchases of foreign armor," said Rogozin, who has special responsibilities for the military-industrial complex. "We just need a few examples, to decide what they are like and what advantages they have. Cooperation is possible on assembling armored vehicles, but this is only in the case of borrowing for those remaining areas where we lag behind," he added.

Buying the latest examples of foreign-made armor was impossible, he said.

"Even in periods of economic crisis in the west, no-one is going to sell that to us," he said.

His comments came as deliveries of Italian-made Centauro wheeled tanks began this week via Novorossisyk, where the vehicles were seen on the side of the dock after offload from ships.

In May this year, the Oto-Melara company which makes the tank said Russia was testing the Centauro and considering building it under license.

"The first two machines with 105-mm and 125-mm guns are on trial at a Moscow Region proving ground," he said.

Yury Borisov, first deputy head of the military-industrial commission, said Russia would only buy foreign weapon models on a one-off basis to study the manufacturing technology and then set up its own production.

Italy already has 400 Centauros in service.

Russia signed a deal with Italy in December 2011 for the semi-knocked down assembly of 60 Lynx light multirole armored vehicles (LMV) from Iveco, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Sukhorukov said in January.

http://www.en.ria.ru/mlitary_news/20120824/175409016.html