The termination of the serial production of the BMD-3 in 1997 did not mean the curtailment of work on improving airborne armored vehicles. To increase the combat potential, even at the design stage of the BMD-3, it was envisaged to install a tower with a complex of weapons from the BMP-3. They returned to this topic in the late 90s, and in 2001, specialists from the Tula Instrument Design Bureau (KBP) and together with the experimental design bureau "Volgograd Tractor" within the framework of the implementation of the "Bakhcha-U" program on the basis of the BMD-3 corps installed a combat module with 100-mm and 30-mm cannons, as well as 7, 62-mm machine gun. All weapons are collected in a two-man turret.
The tower in a single stabilized block contains: a 100-mm 2A70 gun, to the right of it - a 30-mm 2A72 automatic cannon, to the left - a 7.62-mm PKT or PKTM machine gun. The KBP designers managed to squeeze various-caliber weapons into a fairly compact turret. The weapon unit has a length of 3943 mm, a width of 655 mm along the pins, and a weight of 583 kg. Vertical guidance angles - from -6 to + 60 °. The frontal part of the tower is reinforced with steel armor plates. There is an air gap between the main aluminum and additional steel armor.
The 100-mm 2A70 low-ballistic cannon with a vertical wedge breech is equipped with an automatic loader. Thanks to this, the combat rate of fire is 8-10 rds / min. In addition to high-explosive fragmentation shells, the ammunition load includes shots ZUBK23-3 with 9M117M1 ATGM "Arkan" with a tandem warhead. An anti-tank missile system with laser guidance is capable of hitting targets at a range of up to 5500 m. The thickness of the penetrated homogeneous armor after overcoming dynamic protection is up to 750 mm. The ammunition load of the 100-mm gun includes shots with high-explosive fragmentation shells. The destructive power of the 3OF32 high-explosive fragmentation grenades of the early 3UOF17 modification was at the level of the 53-OF-412 high-explosive fragmentation grenade used in the 100-mm D-10T tank gun. Currently, a new 3UOF19-1 ammunition with a 3OF70 high-explosive fragmentation grenade can be used for an arrow from a 2A70 gun. Compared to the 3OF32, the initial speed increased from 250 to 355 m / s, and the firing range from 4000 to 7000 m. Although the mass of the new grenade decreased from 18.2 to 15.8 kg, due to an increase in the filling factor and the use of a more powerful explosive the damaging effect has increased markedly. An increase in the firing range of a high-explosive fragmentation projectile makes it possible to support the actions of the paratroopers with fire from closed positions.
The 100-mm 2A70 cannon is a powerful means of fighting armored vehicles, destroying fortifications and enemy manpower, comparable in efficiency with specialized self-propelled artillery mounts and tank guns. The ammunition load of the 100-mm gun contains 34 unitary rounds, including four rounds from an ATGM. In parallel with the 100-mm gun, the 30-mm 2A72 and 7 cannons are used, the 62-mm PKTM machine gun with 350 incendiary and armor-piercing shells and 2,000 rounds of ammunition. When firing from a 30-mm automatic cannon, it is possible to switch from one type of ammunition to another. The firing range of a 30-mm cannon is up to 2500 m with armor-piercing shells and up to 4000 m - with fragmentation-incendiary shells. The weapon module "Bakhcha-U" is designed to defeat not only ground, but also low-flying enemy air targets.
Armament control is carried out by an automated daily fire control system (FCS). The vehicle commander and gunner are monitoring the battlefield using monitors. For aiming weapons, the gunner has at his disposal an all-day 12x stabilized sight with optical, thermal and rangefinder channels, and an ATGM control channel. The commander's panoramic combined sight with night and rangefinder channels allows target designation to the gunner, as well as aimed firing with all types of weapons, with the exception of ATGMs. After aiming the weapon at the target, the automatic target tracking is activated, combined with the television and thermal imaging channels of the sights. A two-plane weapon stabilizer, provides a minimum targeting speed of 0.02 deg / s and a maximum transfer speed of 60 deg / s. On the outer surface of the tower there are sensors measuring pressure, temperature, wind direction and speed. Information from them goes to the ballistic computer. In case of failure of fully or partially complex electronic devices, the gunner-operator can use the PPB-2 duplicate sight. All-round visibility in this case will be provided by TNPT-2 periscopic observation devices. In the front right part of the hull of the airborne combat vehicle, the installation for the RPKS-74 light machine gun is preserved, the AGS-17 grenade launcher has been dismantled. By analogy with the BMD-3, the side and stern embrasures for individual airborne weapons have been preserved.
According to a tradition that has survived since Soviet times, a vehicle with a new combat module was put into service on the last day of December 2004. In August 2005, the first BMD-4s entered the 37th separate paratrooper regiment (Ryazan). However, in the process of experimental military operation, many shortcomings were revealed. The main complaints were about the unreliable operation of the sighting and survey equipment, the incompatibility of electrical equipment, and the workmanship of some parts. The shortcomings that appeared on the first machines were eliminated by joint efforts of the military and representatives of the manufacturer. Revealed remarks were promptly taken into account, and serial BMD-4 transferred to the 76th airborne assault division (Pskov) caused much less complaints.
With the exception of the fighting compartment, the BMD-4 retained the layout of the BMD-3. In the department of control along the axis of the machine there is a workplace of the driver. To the right and to the left of it are two universal seats, on which the gunner and commander of the vehicle are located inside the vehicle during the landing. On the march, these places are occupied by two paratroopers. Behind the fighting compartment is the troop compartment with three seats for the paratroopers, the landing and disembarkation of which takes place through the aft landing hatch. The engine compartment occupies the rear of the hull.
Compared with the previous model, the mass of the BMD-4 in a combat position has increased by 400 kg. The machine is equipped with the same four-stroke 6-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine 2В-06-2 with a capacity of 450 hp. The characteristics of cross-country ability, mobility, and mileage at one gas station remained at the level of BMD-3.
BMD-4 is equipped with modern VHF radio stations of the R-168-25U and R-168-5UV ranges, providing a radio communication range in motion up to 20 km. It is also provided for the installation of GLONASS navigation equipment with data display on the commander's monitor. In the command version of the BMD-4K, additional communication means and specially equipped workplaces are provided.
After the adoption of the BMD-4, the serial production of the new vehicle was launched at the plant in Volgograd. However, the lack of orders and the activity of "effective managers" led to the bankruptcy of the enterprise. Before the end of production, 14 vehicles were sent to the troops. After the bankruptcy of the Volgograd Tractor Plant, all the documentation was transferred to the Kurgan Machine-Building Plant, where the BMP-3 was produced. In Kurgan, in the Special Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering (SKBM), the BMD-4 was radically reworked and modernized, unifying the power plant, transmission and chassis with the BMP-3.
The BMD-4M body is made of a new light alloy with increased ballistic resistance. The very shape of the hull has changed, the frontal part has become more streamlined, which should help to increase the likelihood of a ricochet when a shell meets armor. The upper frontal and side parts of the hull were reinforced with ceramic armor modules to increase security, and the chassis was covered with additional steel screens. Also, by installing an additional screen on the bottom, the mine resistance is increased.
The upgraded car was equipped with an UTD-29 opposed multi-fuel engine with a capacity of 500 hp, which not only increased the mobility and reliability of the car, but also significantly reduced the dimensions of the engine compartment. Due to the reduction in the volume of MTO, the capacity of the troop compartment has been increased to 6 people. The buoyancy margin has also increased. Despite the increase in the number of paratroopers transported and a significant increase in security, the mass of the vehicle compared to the original version of the BMD-4 is reduced by 100 kg and is 13.5 tons. At the same time, the power density increased from 33 to 37 hp / t. The maximum road speed for the BMD-4D is 70 km / h. The angle of rise is 35 °. The height of the wall to be overcome is 0.7 m. The width of the forced ditch is 2 m.
Comparative tests of the BMD-4M with the BMD-4 demonstrated the significant superiority of the modernized vehicle, and the Airborne Forces command expressed a desire to purchase 200 units. However, these plans were impeded by the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. As of March 2010, there were no vehicle landing facilities, and the project was frozen. First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation V. A. Popovkin said that BMD-4M, except for the batch intended for testing in the Airborne Forces, did not arrive, and the Ministry of Defense refuses their further purchases. The situation changed after the arrival of a new minister, the car was officially put into service in December 2012.
In 2015, the BMD-4M began to enter the troops. As follows from media reports, the first batch of BMD-4M arrived at the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School. In 2017, the 137th Guards Parachute Regiment of the 106th Guards Airborne Division received 31 vehicles - the first battalion set of BMD-4M.
At the end of 2017, the 242nd training center for training junior airborne forces in Omsk received 10 BMD-4Ms. This year, the BMD-4M is planned to equip two battalions of the 31st Guards Separate Airborne Assault Brigade, which is deployed in Ulyanovsk.
In 2002, within the framework of the ROC "Wagon" in a special design bureau of VGTZ, an armored radiation and chemical reconnaissance vehicle was created, designed to conduct radiation, chemical and biological reconnaissance by airborne forces or marines. The vehicle is capable of landing from military transport aircraft using existing parachute systems and swimming ashore when leaving the landing ship. Operate in conditions of the use of weapons of mass destruction in difficult topographic and meteorological conditions, day and night. Thanks to the equipment on board, the RHM-5 provides the crew with high protection against the consequences of the enemy's use of weapons of mass destruction.
The set of special equipment RBKhM-5 includes gas detectors and dose rate meters (IMD). The air inside the machine is cleaned by an air filtration unit of increased efficiency. Sensors located outside the machine record gamma radiation, after which the special protection system in case of a nuclear explosion provides automatic sealing of the case, disconnecting the main power circuits and the engine during the passage of the shock wave. To reduce the radiation dose of the crew during the operation of radiation contamination, combined protective anti-radiation screens are installed on the floor of the control compartment and the middle compartment. Inside the sealed body there are cylinders of a tank degassing kit designed for degassing the vehicle chassis. The presence of containers for drinking water, food supplies and a dry closet, allows the crew not to leave the car in conditions of action on contaminated terrain. For orientation on the terrain and laying a route, the equipment of inertial and satellite navigation of the GLONASS system is used. The machine is also equipped with modern data processing and transmission facilities, a chemical alarm triggering unit, R-163-50U and R-163-UP radio stations, as well as T-236-V information security equipment. For self-defense, on the roof of the rotating commander's cupola, a machine-gun mount of 7, 62 mm caliber with remote control and external power is installed. There are six Tucha smoke grenade launchers on the sides of the wheelhouse.
Externally, the car differs from the BMD-3 (BMD-4) in the shape of the hull. To accommodate special equipment, a multi-faceted welded armored jacket rising by 350 mm is welded to the roof of the hull. The wheelhouse contains the workplaces of the commander and the senior chemist, as well as special equipment and intake and outlet openings for taking air and aerosol samples from the atmosphere.
The radiation and chemical reconnaissance vehicle can be parachuted with four members of the combat crew inside. It is possible to transport the RKhM-5 on the external sling of the Mi-26 helicopter. The mass in the firing position is 13.2 tons, and the running characteristics are generally similar to the base vehicle.
In 2009, the RHM-5 was tested in the Tula 106th Airborne Division. According to the information published on the website of the Tractor Plants Concern, the assembly of PXM-5 since 2012 has been carried out at the production facilities of Zavod Tula OJSC. However, the number of vehicles produced is very small, according to The Military Balance 2017, only 6 PXM-5s were delivered to the troops. They are used in the radiation, chemical and biological defense units of the 76th Airborne Assault and 106th Airborne Divisions.
Not so long ago, information appeared that on the basis of the BMD-4M a mobile short-range airborne air defense complex "Ptitselov" is being created. A big problem for the developer of an airborne airborne air defense system is the safety of rather fragile components, electronic-optical circuits and blocks of the complex, because the landing of a multi-ton machine on parachutes can only be called soft. The descent speed of the brake parachute, although it extinguishes, however, landing from a height is always accompanied by a serious impact on the ground, so all vital components and assemblies are necessarily protected and strengthened.
The details of the project are not known, but in the past, the Tula Instrument Design Bureau based on the BPP-3 and BMD-3 designed an air defense system using elements of the Pantsir-S air defense missile system. A number of sources say that a new anti-aircraft complex for the Airborne Forces will be created on the basis of the Sosna air defense missile system with a laser-guided missile defense system. According to the information provided by the FSUE “Precision Engineering Design Bureau named after AE Nudelman "bicaliber SAM" Sosna-R "has a maximum launch range of up to 10 km, the height of targets hit 0, 002-5 km. Shooting at ground targets is also possible. Air targets at a distance of up to 30 km are detected by a survey optoelectronic station, which does not unmask itself with radio frequency radiation.
After the adoption of the BMD-3, within the framework of the Rakushka design and development project, the military issued a terms of reference for the creation of an amphibious armored personnel carrier based on this vehicle. However, due to the lack of funding, the new amphibious tracked armored personnel carrier BTR-MD was embodied in metal with a long delay. By analogy with the BTR-D, the new airborne armored personnel carrier differed from the base BMD-3 in its increased hull dimensions and the absence of a turret. But unlike the BTR-D, due to the sufficient internal volumes, the vehicle body was not lengthened. At the same time, compared to the BMD-3, the body of the armored personnel carrier has become 470 mm higher.
The BTR-MD armored personnel carrier, which appeared in the second half of the 90s, is arranged according to a scheme with a rear MTO location and a front control compartment. The body of the vehicle is welded from light-alloy armor plates providing bulletproof protection. The frontal armor holds the bullets of a large-caliber 12.7 mm machine gun, and the side armor withstands 7.62 mm rifle fire. In the middle front part of the hull there is a control compartment with a driver's workplace with three periscopic observation devices TNPO-170A. On the first version of the vehicle, the commander's turret with a machine-gun mount was on the right side, and the course machine gun was on the left.
On a later modification of the armored personnel carrier, to the left of the driver, a rotary commander's cupola with a TKN-ZMB observation device, an OU-ZGA illuminator, TNPT-1 and TNPO-170A periscopic observation devices was mounted. At the top of the turret is the installation of a remotely controlled 7, 62-mm PKTM machine gun with an external power system and a 1P67M sight. Machine gun fire can be fired without leaving the armor-plated space. The seat of the vehicle commander is connected to the turret top strap and rotates with it. To the right of the driver is a ball mount with a periscopic sight-observation device TNPP-220A. The course mount can accommodate a 5, 45-mm RPKS-74 light machine gun or AKS-74 assault rifle. In the upper part of the frontal sheet of the hull, two blocks of grenade launchers of the "Tucha" smoke screen are mounted. The roof of the armored personnel carrier has a large number of hatches that allow the landing force and the crew to quickly load into and out of the vehicle in any conditions. In front of the upper armor plate, three separate round hatches are cut. Two more, rectangular, are located above the landing seats and open up and to the side. The aft hatch opening upwards can be used as an armored shield, under the cover of which the landing party can fire from personal weapons in the direction of travel.
In the sides of the middle part of the hull and in the aft hatch there are three embrasures with armored dampers for firing from the individual weapons of the landing. In the middle part of the armored personnel carrier, along the sides, there are chairs with folding backs for paratroopers. Two more single seats are installed on both sides of the driver's workplace. In total, the car is equipped with space for the transportation of 13 paratroopers with personal weapons. In addition, along the sides there are brackets for transporting stretchers with the wounded. The internal space of the BTR-MD can be used to transport various cargo (ammunition boxes, fuel tanks, containers with weapons and special equipment), for which there are fastening devices in the form of safety belts with locks inside the troop compartment. The engine, transmission, chassis and controls of the BTR-MD are mainly borrowed from the BMD-3. Variable ground clearance from 100 mm (minimum) to 500 mm (maximum). The combat weight of the vehicle is 13.2 tons. The characteristics of mobility and maneuverability also roughly correspond to the BMD-3.
In connection with the bankruptcy of the Volgograd Tractor in 2005, the prospects for a new generation of amphibious armored personnel carriers hovered in the air. The base for the modernized BTR-MDM, created according to the "Shell-U" theme, was the BMD-4M, developed in Kurgan. It is difficult to visually distinguish the Volgograd BTR-MD from the Kurgan BTR-MDM at first glance. The general layout, outlines, armament and number of the landing force remained the same. The main differences are in the propulsion system and transmission. Volgograd BTR-MD has a 450 hp engine.and the chassis from the BMD-3, and the Kurgan BTR-MDM inherited a 500 hp engine. and transmission from BMD-4M, which gives it a high power density. The undercarriage and tracks of the Kurgan vehicle have a longer resource, and the bottom is reinforced for greater mine resistance. Communication and navigation facilities are also borrowed from BMD-4M. The most noticeable external differences between armored personnel carriers assembled in Volgograd and Kurgan is a different form of road wheels. On the Kurgan machine, the embrasure with the forward machine gun was moved closer to the right edge, and the upper machine gun mount was somewhat simplified.
The first batch of 12 BTR-MDM was transferred to the Airborne Forces in March 2015. According to The Military Balance 2017, there are only 12 amphibious armored personnel carriers in the troops, domestic sources say that there may be more than 60 such vehicles. In 2015, representatives of the RF Ministry of Defense stated that the Airborne Forces should receive at least 200 new armored personnel carriers and vehicles based on them.
BTR-MDM was originally developed as a universal platform, on the basis of which it is easy to create special airborne vehicles for various purposes. Ambulances were brought to the stage of official adoption and supplies to the troops.
The armored airborne medical vehicle (ROC "Traumatism") was created in two versions BMM-D1 and BMM-D2. The armored sanitary transporter BMM-D1 is designed to search for, collect and transport the wounded from the battlefield and centers of mass sanitary losses with the provision of first aid. Inside the BMM-D1 there are 6 places for transporting lying wounded, or 11 places for sitting. The car has a winch and a crane for retrieving the wounded and injured from armored vehicles and hard-to-reach folds of the terrain.
The armored vehicle of the BMM-D2 medical platoon is designed to carry out measures for the provision of first aid or first aid for urgent indications and is equipped with a frame tent for 6 wounded. The deployment time for an emergency point with a frame tent is no more than 30 minutes.
The sources also mention the BMM-D3 mobile dressing station, created on the basis of an elongated base with an additional road roller. But there is still no information about the adoption of this machine.
The MRU-D vehicle from the Barnaul-T tactical echelon air defense automation kit is designed to control the actions of the airborne troops' anti-aircraft units.
In the upper part of the vehicle there is a 1L122-1 aerial target detection radar antenna-hardware module with a rotary support and four radio antennas for communications. The control compartment does not differ from the basic BTR-MD, but the commander's cupola is devoid of a machine-gun mount. The possibility of placing the RPKS-74 light machine gun on the right side of the frontal plate is preserved. The middle section houses radar and communication equipment, as well as workplaces for two operators. The phased antenna array folds into the vehicle on the march. To ensure the operation of the equipment in the stern, a compact diesel-electric generator is installed on the left fender.
Each operator has an automated workstation based on a personal computer. The 1L122-1 three-coordinate impulse-coherent radar operating in the decimeter range provides detection, positioning and tracking of air targets at a distance of up to 40 km and at an altitude of up to 10 km. The station is equipped with equipment for determining nationality and can function under conditions of active and passive jamming by the enemy.
According to the advertising brochures of OAO NPP Rubin, the Barnaul-T tactical echelon automation and control kit allows you to quickly adjust to the available forces and means of any organizational structure of tactical formations of air defense units. However, the full implementation of the capabilities of the MRU-D machine designed to detect air targets, issue target designation and control the combat operation of air defense systems in the Airborne Forces is currently not possible, due to the absence of airborne anti-aircraft missile systems on a mobile chassis in the troops. At the moment, Igla and Verba MANPADS are the main means of protecting airborne units from air strikes.
Apparently, the MRU-D machine is going through the testing stage, since there is no information about its acceptance into service in the Airborne Forces. In February 2017, the press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation published information that the newest control systems "Barnaul-T" were used for the first time during the airborne exercises in the Pskov region. However, on which chassis these complexes are located, it is not said.
During the hostilities in Afghanistan, it became clear that the BMD-1 is very vulnerable to mine explosions. In this regard, in the second half of the 80s, in the airborne forces that were part of the "limited contingent", all light amphibious vehicles with aluminum armor were replaced by the BTR-70, BTR-80 and BMP-2D. The first tank battalion, armed with 22 T-62s, was formed in 1984 as part of the 103rd Airborne Division.
In order to increase protection against anti-tank cumulative grenades and armor-piercing 12, 7-mm bullets, the BMP-2D was equipped with additional steel screens on the sides of the hull, bolted at some distance from the main armor, steel bulwarks covering the chassis, as well as armor plate mounted under workplaces of a driver and a senior shooter. The ammunition capacity of the coaxial machine gun increased to 3000 rounds. As a result of all these changes, the mass of the car increased, as a result of which it lost the ability to float, which, however, did not matter in the mountainous desert conditions of Afghanistan. In the future, this practice was continued, so in the airborne assault brigades subordinate to the commander of the military district, one battalion was armed with heavy army armored vehicles.
In 2015, it was announced that the formation of separate tank companies had begun in the Russian Airborne Forces. Already in the first half of 2016, two airborne assault divisions (7th and 76th) and four airborne assault brigades (11th, 31st, 56th and 83rd) began to receive T-72B3 tanks - vehicles upgraded at UVZ with new fire control systems, improved armor protection and boosted engines. On the basis of individual companies, it is subsequently planned to create tank battalions. In 2018, separate tank battalions should be formed in the 76th Airborne Assault Division, in the 7th Airborne Assault Division (mountain) and in one of the Airborne Assault Brigades.
Apparently, the command of the Airborne Forces decided in this way to strengthen the firepower of the landing force in the offensive and to increase the combat stability in defense. In the past, tanks were given as a means of reinforcing amphibious units in Afghanistan and in two Chechen campaigns. Which, in general, was justified when using the paratroopers as an elite motorized infantry. However, with high firepower and good security, the T-72B3 weighs 46 tons and cannot be parachuted. Even in the days of the USSR, there was not a sufficient number of military transport aircraft capable of simultaneously transporting all the equipment available in the Airborne Forces. Currently, the main part of the An-12 is decommissioned, and the rest are ending their life cycle and are used for auxiliary purposes. In the ranks there are about a hundred Il-76, two A-22 and twelve An-124. Military transport Il-76 and An-22 can take on board one tank, and An-124 - two. A significant part of the VTA aircraft has a resource close to the limit or needs major overhaul.
Delivery of T-72B3 tanks is carried out only by landing method at an airfield with a hard surface. It is clear that in our modern conditions a very limited number of heavy armored vehicles can be urgently transferred to a given area using military transport aviation.
In 2009, to protect against air strikes, the airborne forces began to receive mobile short-range air defense systems "Strela-10M3". In 2014-2015, air defense units received more than 30 modernized Strela-10MN short-range anti-aircraft missile systems.
The modernized mobile air defense system includes a thermal imaging system, an automatic target acquisition and tracking and a scanning unit. Thanks to the modified hardware, the complex can operate effectively in the dark and in difficult weather conditions. The multispectral seeker of an anti-aircraft missile has three receivers: infrared (with cooling), photocontrast and jamming with logical target sampling against the background of optical interference by trajectory and spectral features. This increases the likelihood of hitting a target and noise immunity. The mass of the vehicle in a combat position is about 13 tons, which makes it possible to deliver the Strela-10MN air defense system by military transport aircraft. However, like the T-72 tanks, all modifications of the Strela-10 air defense system can only be landed.
The latest Russian armored vehicle Typhoon VDV was presented at the Interpolitech exhibition held in October 2017. As the name suggests, the armored car is specially adapted for the needs of the airborne forces and in the future should be parachuted using existing landing vehicles. Work on this armored car began in 2015 as part of the Typhoon ROC. It was planned to create a landing armored vehicle with a total weight of about 11 tons with a 4x4 wheel arrangement with a capacity of up to eight people. Just five months after the signing of the contract for the creation of a promising machine, in March 2016, the first prototype, designated K4386 Typhoon-Airborne Forces, came out for testing.
The promising Typhoon-VDV armored car, unlike the previous vehicles of its family, is not equipped with a frame for installing the main units, but has a supporting armored body. This decision made it possible to achieve a weight reduction of about 2 tons and reduce its dimensions, which in turn makes it possible to increase the vehicle's carrying capacity and install more serious weapons or other necessary systems on it. The weight reduction also improves the vehicle's off-road capability.
The armored car has a bonnet layout, the control compartment is not separated from the troop compartment by a partition. Metal armor and transparent bulletproof glasses protect the vehicle units and the paratroopers inside from 7.62 mm bullets. It is possible to increase security by installing additional panels made of ceramic and polymer armor. The seats of the crew and the landing have shock absorption that absorbs part of the explosion energy under the wheel or the bottom of the hull.
On an armored car undergoing trials and presented on June 2, 2016 to the commander of the Airborne Forces V. A. Shamanov was equipped with a remotely controlled weapon station with a 30-mm cannon and a 7.62-mm machine gun. The module also contains mortars for setting up a smoke screen.
A 350 hp diesel engine was installed under the armored hood of the prototype hull. of the Cummins company, manufactured under license in Russia. However, from the statements made by representatives of the developer, it is planned to use the motor and suspension elements on the armored car in the future, whose production is 100% localized in Russia. The existing engine allows an armored vehicle weighing 11 tons to accelerate to 105 km / h and cover 1200 km on a single gas station on the highway.
In its current form, the Typhoon-VDV armored vehicle is a combat vehicle capable of transporting paratroopers with weapons, as well as supporting them with cannon and machine gun fire. In the future, on the basis of this machine, other options may be created: carriers of ATGM and air defense missile systems, command, communications and ambulances. In 2017, the K4386 Typhoon-Airborne Forces underwent final tests prior to its adoption. It is expected that the serial production of the armored car will begin in 2019.
At the end of the review devoted to the armored vehicles of the domestic airborne forces, I would like to note that in our country, despite the losses associated with the "optimization" and "reform" of the armed forces, lack of funding, transfer to private hands and, as a result, bankruptcy of a number of defense enterprises, everything it is still possible to create and serial construction of the most advanced landing vehicles. This inspires hope that our airborne forces will continue to be the most powerful airborne force in the world. But for this, in addition to equipping them with perfect armored airborne equipment, it is necessary to revive the fleet of military transport aviation, which is impossible without a change in the internal political course and a transition to sustainable rates of economic growth.
