Before the 10th International Exhibition of Arms and Military Equipment MILEX-2021, which took place in Minsk from June 23 to 26, only renders of the new Belarusian armored personnel carrier were available to the public. At the exhibition, a full-fledged debut of the novelty took place, which was first openly demonstrated to the general public.
In the future, the new Belarusian wheeled armored personnel carrier, called the Volat V2, will be able to replace all similar wheeled and tracked vehicles of Soviet production in the army of the Republic of Belarus. Belarusians consider the new product as a potential replacement for the numerous fleet of BMP-1, BMP-2, BTR-70, BTR-80. In addition, the creation of its own armored personnel carrier will allow Minsk to abandon purchases of the BTR-82A in Russia.
Modern wheeled armored personnel carrier from MZKT
The developer of the Belarusian novelty is the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant (MZKT), well-known in Russia and in the world. For decades, the company has specialized in the production of heavy-duty wheeled vehicles, including those for the armed forces. Today military and civilian products of the company are produced under its own trade mark Volat (“Volat” in translation from the Belarusian language: giant, bogatyr).
The fact that MZKT specialists developed its own armored personnel carrier, the first in the history of the Republic of Belarus, became known only at the beginning of June 2021. Initially, in addition to the message about the creation of a domestic armored personnel carrier with a wheel formula 8x8, the Belarusian company published only renders of a new armored vehicle. At the same time, on June 23, the novelty was demonstrated at the MILEX-2021 exhibition.
It is worth noting that the MZKT company already had experience in creating wheeled armored vehicles. The company's product range includes a family of light armored vehicles MZKT-490100, built on a universal chassis with a 4x4 wheel arrangement. This armored car received the designation Volat V1.
The prototype of the Volat V1 armored car was created in 2016. The armored vehicle turned out to be quite large and dimensional. The gross vehicle weight was 12,000 kg. Number of seats - 2 + 8. It is known that so far only Belarusian customers are showing interest in this MZKT development. In the Republic of Belarus, the armored car is in service with the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, border guards and special operations forces.
The next logical step for the MZKT engineers was the creation of a full-fledged wheeled armored personnel carrier with an 8x8 wheel arrangement. The novelty is quite large in size and outwardly resembles most of the modern representatives of its class. The Volat V2 armored personnel carrier traces the features of the European MOWAG Piranha armored personnel carriers, the American Stryker and the new Russian armored personnel carriers built on the Boomerang wheeled platform.
What is known about the Volat V2 armored personnel carrier
The new Belarusian armored personnel carrier Volat V2 received the factory index MZKT-690003. The main purpose of the novelty is the transportation of personnel to the place of the combat mission, fire support for infantry in combat conditions, protection of the landing force from small arms fire, as well as explosives. In addition, the Volat V2 armored personnel carrier can be used to destroy enemy infantry and anti-tank weapons, lightly armored vehicles, and low-speed air targets.
The armored personnel carrier received a modern set of on-board systems and equipment: its own CIUS; central autonomous tire pressure regulation system, which is controlled from the driver's seat; fire extinguishing system; smoke exhaust system; video review system and filtering unit.
It is also known that the armored personnel carrier received wheels with tubeless tires of dimension 14.00R20. A distinctive feature of the wheels of the Belarusian armored personnel carrier is the Run-Flat system - radial deformation limiters. This system allows the armored personnel carrier to move even on flat tires (for example, in case of combat damage) on paved roads at speeds up to 20 km / h.
In addition, an electric self-recovery winch with a traction force of 10 tons is installed on the armored personnel carrier. With the use of a chain hoist, the traction force of the installed winch increases to 20 tons.
An interesting feature of the novelty is the presence of a separate diesel generator set on board. Its presence provides the armored vehicle with a relatively high level of autonomy. In particular, the Volat V2 armored personnel carrier remains fully operational, remaining in ambush for a long time with the main engine muted. Also, this diesel generator set allows the armored personnel carrier to maintain partial combat capability in the event of a technical failure or combat damage to the main power plant.
The main power plant is a Chinese WP13.550 inline six-cylinder diesel engine with an output of 550 hp. with. The production of these engines has been established in the Republic of Belarus at the MAZ-Veychay joint venture on the territory of the Great Stone industrial park. The power of the diesel engine, which works in conjunction with a six-speed automatic gearbox manufactured by MZKT, is enough to provide a 20-ton combat vehicle with a maximum highway speed of up to 110 km / h, and a floating speed of 10 km / h.
Unlike many samples of western armored personnel carriers, the Belarusian Volat V2 retains the ability to overcome water obstacles afloat. For this, the armored personnel carrier is equipped with water cannons and a wave reflector. This allows the combat vehicle to force water obstacles, including right off the bat. Especially for these purposes, the armored personnel carrier received sensors of the water level indication system in the case and two powerful bilge pumps with a capacity of up to 180 liters per minute.
So far, nothing is known about the overall dimensions of the novelty. Visually, the length of the armored personnel carrier is comparable to numerous analogues and, most likely, is in the region of 8 meters. In this case, the clearance of a combat vehicle is known - 520 mm. Operation of the Volat V2 armored personnel carrier is possible at ambient temperatures from -40 to +40 degrees Celsius.
The layout and armament of the Volat V2 armored personnel carrier
The Volat V2 armored personnel carrier received an all-welded armored hull. The level of ballistic protection is Br4, mine protection is STANAG 4569 level 2a / 2b. The declared level of ballistic protection provides protection only against automatic bullets of caliber 5, 45x39 and 7, 62x39 mm with a heat-strengthened steel core.
Mine protection allows the detonation of a high-explosive anti-tank mine (explosive mass up to 6 kg) under the wheel or bottom of the combat vehicle. Obviously, the level of booking can be increased based on the wishes of the customer. True, this will lead to an increase in the combat mass of the vehicle and, possibly, to a loss of buoyancy.
To protect the crew and troops from the consequences of being blown up by mines or improvised explosive devices, energy-absorbing seats and a suspended floor are specially installed in the armored personnel carrier. These technical solutions should protect the fighters in the crew compartment from the impact of the shock wave, as well as from the ingress of debris.
The body of the Volat V2 armored personnel carrier consists of an engine compartment, system compartments and a habitable compartment. The inhabited compartment consists of three sections: control, combat and airborne. The troop compartment, like all modern armored personnel carriers, is located in the rear of the hull, it can accommodate 8 people. The troop compartment is equipped with a reclining ramp, which allows the soldiers to drop, both in the parking lot and while the combat vehicle is in motion. The crew of the armored personnel carrier consists of three people: a driver, gunner and commander.
The fighting compartment of the new Belarusian armored personnel carrier allows the installation of a standard combat module BMP-2. The armored personnel carrier, which was demonstrated at the exhibition in Minsk, was equipped with a BMP-2 tower, modernized by the Belarusian company Peleng. Earlier, for the modernization of the BMP-2, this company developed the "Rubezh-M" thermal imaging sight, which made it possible to increase the range and effectiveness of target recognition and simplify the work of the commander and gunner.
The composition of the armament remains the same and does not differ from that of the BMP-2. The vehicle on display at the exhibition was equipped with a turret with a 30-mm 2A42 automatic cannon with two-belt feed (the gun is stabilized in two planes) and a 7.62-mm PKT machine gun paired with it. Also on the tower there was a launcher for launching an ATGM.
