One of the promising projects for the creation of military equipment for the armed forces has entered a new stage. According to the domestic press, the next stage of testing of a promising armored personnel carrier, built on the basis of the unified wheeled platform "Boomerang", has begun. After completing all the necessary checks, the new combat vehicle should be adopted by various types of troops in need of such armored vehicles.
On July 7, Izvestia reported on the continuation of work on the Boomerang project and the start of testing a new armored vehicle. The publication received comments on the progress of the project from the official representative of the developer organization. According to Sergei Suvorov, representing the Military Industrial Company, preliminary tests have begun on a promising armored personnel carrier built on the basis of the Boomerang platform. It is reported that the new vehicle is amphibious and is capable of moving both on land and in water. Thanks to this, in particular, it becomes possible to supply new equipment to both the ground forces and the navy's marines.
The project of armored vehicles based on the Boomerang platform is called "an absolutely new word in the family of Soviet and Russian wheeled armored personnel carriers." Unlike its predecessors, the new technology is built on the basis of a common platform with a number of characteristic features associated with modern requirements for such machines. This simplifies the creation and construction of new equipment, and in the future will lead to a simplified operation of combat vehicles. The armored vehicles of the Boomerang family are said to be similar to the existing equipment only in wheel arrangement. In terms of other design features, this is a completely different technique.
Armored vehicle with combat module "Epoch" / "Boomerang-BM". Photo Wikimedia Commons
It is noted that one of the main goals of the promising project is to increase the level of protection of equipment from threats in the form of various explosive devices. Old domestic armored personnel carriers did not have sufficient protection of this type, which led to corresponding negative consequences. Within the framework of the new project, the task of mine protection was one of the main ones. In addition, the armor of the corps, which is responsible for protection against shelling from small arms and small-caliber artillery or shell fragments, was strengthened.
Details of the current preliminary tests have not yet been specified. Probably, the prototype "Boomerang" went to one of the test sites, where it is planned to check its driving performance and evaluate other characteristics. What exactly is happening now - official sources are silent.
At the same time, there is some information that allows us to make assumptions about the course of the current tests. A few days before the news of the start of preliminary tests, several amateur photographs of great interest appeared in the public domain. At the very beginning of July, on one of the streets of Nizhny Novgorod, a tractor with a tanker trailer was captured, transporting an armored personnel carrier "Boomerang" in a curious configuration.
The greatest attention in the published photographs is the equipment installed behind the combat module of the armored personnel carrier. A unit with two curved pipes for air intake was mounted on special slots in the roof of the prototype hull. Such equipment makes it possible to make assumptions about the purpose of the current tests. There is reason to believe that an experienced armored vehicle was involved in tests on the water.
In this case, the armored personnel carrier had to move through the water with the help of two water jet propellers, originally envisaged by the unified platform project, and the pipes on the roof provided air supply to the habitable compartments and to the engine without the risk of flooding the intake devices with water. Whether the prototype of the armored personnel carrier was taken to the landfill or returned to the factory after checks is unknown, however, even without this information, new photographs are of great interest.
It is noteworthy that the possibility of crossing water obstacles by swimming by an armored vehicle, as well as the installation of water-jet propellers, were originally provided for by the terms of reference. At the same time, it follows from some published data that the authors of the project were far from immediately able to "teach" the armored personnel carrier to swim. For example, a few weeks ago the management of the Military Industrial Company said that at present work is underway to introduce new materials into the Boomerang project, primarily steel alloys, aimed at reducing the weight of the structure and improving the characteristics afloat. Perhaps these works have been largely completed, which made it possible to start testing experimental equipment in a modified configuration on the water.
The development of the project of the unified wheeled platform "Boomerang" started at the beginning of this decade. The task of the project was to create a platform suitable for use as a basis for the development of new equipment for various purposes. The creation of the platform was entrusted to the Military Industrial Company and a number of related organizations. For example, the "Plant of Buildings" (Vyksa) and the Arzamas Machine-Building Plant are responsible for the manufacture of new equipment. Most of the design work was completed within the first few years. In 2013, representatives of the military department and the leadership of the state were shown for the first time a model of a promising armored vehicle.
The first public display of equipment built on the basis of the new platform took place on May 9, 2015 during the parade on Red Square. Then the vehicles were shown in the configuration of armored personnel carriers with the appropriate equipment and weapons. Cars of the Boomerang family again took part in the 2016 parade.
In mid-April, the development organization reported that a test program for a new armored personnel carrier is currently being implemented. The existing machines of the Boomerang family must pass the entire range of checks by the end of this year. After completing the tests, the vehicle can be put into service. The start of serial construction of new equipment is scheduled for next year. At the same time, the first samples of armored personnel carriers can enter the troops, although mass deliveries will begin later.
Transportation of an armored vehicle in a "water" configuration. Photo Bmpd.livejournal.com
The unified platform VPK-7829 "Boomerang" is a four-axle wheeled armored vehicle, the design of which was created taking into account the possible use as a basis for equipment for various purposes. For this, in particular, a non-standard for domestic armored personnel carriers arrangement of internal volumes with the front placement of the engine compartment, next to which the control compartment is located, was used. The armored body of the vehicle was created using the latest developments in the field of protection systems, thanks to which it can withstand shelling from small arms or small-caliber artillery systems, as well as the detonation of explosive devices under the wheel or bottom.
According to available data, to date, the Military Industrial Company has developed two versions of military equipment based on the Boomerang platform. This is an armored personnel carrier with the symbol K-16 and a wheeled infantry fighting vehicle K-17. The differences between these two samples are in the different composition of equipment and different weapons. At the same time, the main characteristics, both tactical and technical and operational, are at the same level.
The main tasks of the equipment of the new family are the transportation of personnel and support of the landing force with fire when participating in combat operations. For this, the vehicle is equipped with a large troop compartment in the stern. Unlike previous domestic armored personnel carriers, "Boomerang" must land the fighters through the aft ramp, which allows them to be protected from enemy fire by the entire body of the vehicle. There are also roof hatches.
The most noticeable external differences between the two versions of the armored vehicle relate to weapons. So, depending on the modification "Boomerang" can be equipped with two types of remotely controlled combat modules. A system with machine-gun armament and a set of smoke grenade launchers is proposed, also equipped with optoelectronic equipment for observation and guidance. An alternative to the machine gun module is the Epoch / Boomerang-BM system. This combat module is large in size and carries a more serious armament complex. It is equipped with a 30-mm automatic cannon 2A42, 7, 62-mm PKTM machine gun and launchers for Kornet guided missiles. Both combat modules are controlled from the operator's console located inside the reserved volume.
Armored vehicles based on the Boomerang platform, of at least two types, will enter serial production in the foreseeable future and will be supplied to the troops. The start of serial production is scheduled for next year. A full rearmament of the army is planned to begin by the end of the decade. The new equipment will be transferred to the ground forces, as well as, as follows from the latest reports, to the marines. Having received new armored vehicles with improved characteristics, various units of the armed forces will be able to increase their potential, as well as abandon the operation of obsolete equipment that does not fully meet modern requirements.
According to the latest media reports, one of the stages of testing new technology is currently underway, which, among other things, may include tests on the water. Completion of these or those phases of testing brings the moment of adoption of "Boomerangs" into service. This event will have to happen in the foreseeable future.
