In 2013-14. the story with the delivery of Ukrainian armored personnel carriers BTR-4E to Iraq made a lot of noise. The customer found numerous defects and refused to accept the products. The Ukrainian authorities, in turn, were going to deal with this problem and find the culprit. Years have passed, but the overall situation has not changed. The problem of cracks in hulls has again come to the fore and is causing new controversy.
Not done, but bursting at the seams
The reason for the continuation of the "series" with cracks was a recent article from the Ukrainian information and consulting agency "Defense Express". On January 23, it published the material “New BTR-4 for the army: it’s not yet broken, but it’s still cracking at all the seams” (“New BTR-4 for the army: not yet made, but already cracking at the seams”). The head of the agency, Sergei Zgurets, criticized the production of armored vehicles.
It is alleged that the Kharkov Design Bureau for Mechanical Engineering (KMDB) received three hulls for the BTR-4 manufactured by the Lozovsky Forging and Mechanical Plant (LKMZ). The products bear the hallmarks of the military acceptance of the Ministry of Defense, confirming the quality. Despite the passage of acceptance, the hulls are defective.
The products contain low-quality welds that have insufficient strength and require additional processing. There are also cracks hidden under the paint. All this requires, at a minimum, to spend time on processing and bringing the bodies into an acceptable form. The publication "Defense Express" was accompanied by the most interesting photographs and video filming.
In connection with the delivery of defective buildings, S. Zgurets asks three important questions. Why does the state KMDB pay the private LKMZ for defective products? Why is LKMZ a monopoly in the production of hulls for armored personnel carriers? Why are "hands" more important than "mind" and KMDB has turned from a design organization into an assembly organization?
Considering these issues and known problems, "Defense Express" comes to conclusions about the problems in production and the corruption component. In particular, there are accusations against the 85th representation of the military acceptance. Moreover, the entire acceptance system is called a problem.
Meetings and reports
The state concern "Ukroboronprom" immediately reacted to the publication. The management of the concern called to account the enterprises involved in the production of the BTR-4. They were given 24 hours to check the information of S. Zgurts, study the delivered corps and draw up a report. In case of confirmation of the marriage data, Ukroboronprom plans to force the contractor to produce high-quality hulls at his expense.
The next day, the state concern published the results of an urgent audit. The presence of cracks in the seams was confirmed. However, the management of LKMZ claims that such damage occurs during the welding process and is part of the technological cycle. They are eliminated at subsequent stages of equipment production. Production quality control is carried out by specialists of LKMZ and KMDB.
In connection with the identification of a marriage, the Ministry of Defense already on January 24 formed a working group that checked the equipment of combat units. On the army BTR-4, poor-quality seams were also identified. A search is underway for the causes of such damage.
Based on the results of the audit, Ukroboronprom demanded that LKMZ in full and at its own expense correct the deficiencies and submit high-quality hulls for production. The Kharkov bureau was ordered to check the qualifications of its welders and strengthen control over the quality of products.
Unanswered questions
On January 28, "Defense Express" again raised the topic of defective buildings. Article "New BTR-4 and hulls: not cracks, but" defects ". Is not it?" began with a reminder of the agency's activities and its feasible contribution to improving the Ukrainian production of armored vehicles. After that, its author, again S. Zgurets, turned to the topic of marriage to the BTR-4.
"Defense Express" reminds: now all Ukrainian production of light armored vehicles for their needs and for export depends on LKMZ, which produces the hulls. Armor for the BTR-3 and BTR-4 is made according to old technologies developed back in the days of the USSR. Such a technological cycle is distinguished by a long duration and a significant proportion of manual labor.
Since 2010, LKMZ has produced more than 250 hulls for the BTR-4, mainly from armored steel of the "71" grade. Some of the products supplied had cracks and other shortcomings. All this was attributed to non-compliance with technological processes during production. The share of defective armored personnel carriers reached 30%.
In the past, the KMDB allowed four types of armor for use in the construction of the BTR-4 - the Ukrainian "71" and several types of foreign production. From Finnish steel MiiLux Protection and Belgian HB 500 MOD we made several hulls for equipment. BTR-4 with Belgian armor was tested, which did not reveal any problems with strength and other parameters.
Nevertheless, the Ministry of Defense took measures, and in the series there were still cases made of “71” steel, produced at LKMZ according to the old technology. A new order has appeared, according to which the first hulls have recently been delivered. It was these products of LKMZ that became the reason for the previous publication of "Defense Express".
In connection with this situation, pessimistic conclusions are drawn. LKMZ retains the status of a monopoly in the production of armored hulls, despite the release of low-quality products and the actual lack of responsibility. In addition, there is no strategy for the development of KMDB production, which could change the situation. To maintain the current economic indicators, Kharkiv must hand over at least five BTR-4s monthly. However, the supply of defective housings will not allow to maintain even such rates, which virtually excludes economic growth.
View from the outside
The Ukrainian military equipment specialist Andrey Tarasenko reacted in an interesting way to the new disputes over the armor from LKMZ. In his blog, he recalled that cracks are not only a problem with the BTR-4. Such defects were present on armored personnel carriers, tanks and other equipment of almost all types - including Russian models. This question was regularly raised on the pages of specialized periodicals.
As an example, A. Tarasenko gave a drawing showing the correction of a defect in the turret of a T-44 tank. In the drawing, a 10-15 mm thick overlay is provided over the armor defect. According to the Ukrainian specialist, such damage does not affect the fighting qualities of equipment. He sees the roots of current problems and disputes in something else: in a willingness to gnaw at each other in order to get money.
It's not over yet
Thus, for a while, the forgotten story with defective armored hulls for the BTR-4 is continued. The monopoly supplier handed over low-quality products to KMDB that needed revision and correction. First, the public, and then "Ukroboronprom" drew attention to this situation and are now trying to find a way out of it.
It seems that it was not possible to resolve the issue with the help of a compromise. LKMZ does not consider cracks in welded seams to be defects and calls them a production feature. Ukroboronprom does not agree with this and demands to correct the deficiencies at the expense of the manufacturer. Such statements were made only a few days ago, and it is not yet completely clear where they will lead.
However, the prerequisites for the current phenomena and problems of the past years are obvious. Enterprises seek to participate in the fulfillment of lucrative orders on certain rights and receive appropriate payment. Production and technological problems do not stop them and do not interfere with their earnings. In general, this is the very case when the income of individuals and organizations is given higher priority than issues of quality, cost or defense capability.
Obviously, this situation hampers the development of the armed forces of Ukraine, which is already facing a host of various problems. Corrective measures have been announced, but their effectiveness will only become known in the future. Will it be possible to solve the long-term problem with armored hulls for the BTR-4 - time will tell. However, the events of recent years raise doubts about the possibility of normal production of high-quality equipment. Too many factors interfere with this outcome.
