The Belarusian industry continues to develop promising defense projects in various fields. At the same time, special attention is paid to new types of armored vehicles. So, last year, the first public demonstration of a promising Belarusian armored car took place, and a few weeks ago this car was demonstrated as a carrier of various special equipment. The new armored car was named Volat V-1 and MZKT-490100.
Several enterprises of the Republic of Belarus are currently engaged in the creation of promising light armored vehicles. The recognized leaders of the automotive industry are also trying their hand in this direction. The new Volat V-1 project was created by the engineers of the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant. The company is known for its various models of trucks, multipurpose and special chassis. Not so long ago, it received an order from the Ministry of Defense, thanks to which it now has a chance to enter the armored vehicle market.
Volat V-1 armored car without weapons or special equipment
The development of the Volat V-1 project, which also received the factory designation MZKT-490100, started several years ago by order of the military department. In the course of this work, it was planned to create an armored vehicle with a 4x4 wheel arrangement and bulletproof armor. It was required to provide for the possibility of transporting fighters with weapons or equipping the machine with one or another equipment. At the request of the customer, the armored car could receive weapons of different models or special equipment.
A prototype of the new Belarusian armored car was built last year. The official "premiere" of the car took place in June 2016 at the Eurosatory exhibition in Paris. The MZKT-490100 armored car attracted the attention of visitors to the exhibition, however, as far as is known, no country in the world has yet expressed a desire to purchase such equipment. After the end of the French military-technical salon, tests and refinements of the armored car were continued.
The next important display of the armored car took place in May 2017 as part of the MILEX-2017 exhibition in Minsk. This time, the manufacturer decided not to limit itself to a single sample and presented three armored cars at the exhibition at once. To demonstrate the potential of the project and the various capabilities of the vehicle, all three samples received different special equipment designed to solve different combat or auxiliary tasks. Thus, the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant has clearly shown that the new Volat V-1 armored car can be widely used in various units of the Belarusian army or foreign armed forces.
Back view
During the May exhibition, representatives of the developer company spoke about the current successes of the MZKT-490100 project. By that time, the prototypes had passed the full cycle of the required tests, having covered about 40 thousand km of various routes. During the tests, the machines showed impressive performance. It was also noted that the project is highly localized. More than 70% of the used components are produced by the Belarusian industry.
The new Belarusian armored car has a standard architecture for such equipment. An armored body is used that protects all the main structural elements and is the basis of the vehicle. According to the manufacturer, the ballistic protection of the Volat V-1 meets the requirements of the class
