Currently, the Ukrainian authorities are making active attempts to make up for the loss of military equipment. To equip the armed forces and the National Guard, combat vehicles are being restored that have been removed from storage, and attempts are being made to purchase or build new equipment. In equipping army units, Kiev has to manage not only on its own, but also ask for help from foreign companies. A striking example of the latter is the recent events around the Streit Group / KrAZ Spartan armored car.
The Spartan armored car ("Spartan") was developed by the Canadian company Streit Group and first presented to the public in 2013. The goal of the project was to create a multipurpose armored vehicle intended for delivery to third countries. To date, Canadian-designed armored cars have been purchased by the new Libyan authorities and the armed forces of Nigeria. Relatively recently, the Streit Group company made an advantageous offer to all potential customers of its armored vehicles: if necessary, the production of Spartan armored cars can be carried out at the enterprises of the customer country.
Last summer it became known that the Ukrainian army, which needs a large number of modern armored vehicles, is showing its interest in Spartan armored vehicles. Already on August 24, this technique took part in the parade dedicated to the Independence Day of Ukraine. At the same time, the transfer of vehicles to the troops was noticeably delayed.
The Spartan armored car is a light armored vehicle based on a commercial chassis. The basis for this Canadian car was the Ford 550, which affected a number of its characteristics. The project involves the installation of an original armored hull on a borrowed chassis, which should simplify and reduce the cost of production of such armored vehicles.
The vehicle offered by the Canadian company has a classic armored hull layout for this technique. In front of it is the engine compartment, protected by the armor of the hood, and the rest of the body is given over to accommodate people and cargo. The volume of the internal space allows you to transport up to 12 people, including the driver and commander.
According to the developer, the armored hull of the Spartan vehicle provides B6 protection according to the European CEN 1063 standard and withstands bullets from a 7.62x51 mm NATO rifle cartridge. In addition, the armored car has mine protection that corresponds to level 2 of the NATO STANAG 4569 standard and allows you to save the crew from a mine explosion weighing up to 6 kg.
The Streit Group Spartan armored car is equipped with a 300 hp Ford V8-6.7L diesel engine. The engine is mated to a five-speed automatic transmission. The units of the power unit are borrowed from the base chassis of the Ford 550. The used power plant, according to the authors of the project, should accelerate the armored car to a speed of 110 km / h (on the highway) and provide a cruising range of 800 km.
The Spartan armored car has a length of just over 6 m, a width of 2, 43 m and a height on the roof of 2, 37 m. The curb weight of the vehicle reaches 7, 87 tons. At the same time, the armored car is capable of carrying up to 1100 kg of payload, including troops or any cargo …
The body of the armored car provides a set of doors and hatches for embarking and disembarking or using weapons. The commander and driver, located in front of the hull, must get into their seats through the doors in the sides. In total, there are four doors in the sides, two rear doors lead to the troop / cargo compartment. Another door is provided in the rear hull. The roof has three hatches, one in the middle and two aft. The central hatch can be used to install turrets with weapons, combat modules, etc. equipment. As weapons can be used machine guns, including large-caliber, or automatic grenade launchers.
Last summer, it became known that the Spartan armored cars ordered by Ukraine would be assembled at its production sites. The basis for the production of this equipment was the Kremenchug Automobile Plant (KrAZ). In this regard, new armored cars often appear under the name KrAZ Spartan. It should be noted that it is known that Ukrainian specialists take minimal part in the project for the construction of equipment. KrAZ accounts for no more than 10-15% of all work, since this plant carries out only the final assembly of products from finished units. It cannot be ruled out that the situation will change in the future, but at the moment Ukraine receives ready-made assembly kits and does not produce components on its own.
To date, the cooperation of the Canadian and Ukrainian enterprises has led to the emergence of a certain number of armored cars of a new model, which, according to available data, are already used in the so-called. anti-terrorist operation. A few days ago, the first details of the operation of armored vehicles of a new type became known. As it turned out, the "Spartans" supplied to the troops, despite all the promises, have a lot of shortcomings that require urgent correction.
On January 14, Ukrainian activist Aleksey Mochanov, who maintains contact with the units operating KrAZ Spartan armored cars, published a list of 17 items describing the existing problems of the new technology. Some shortcomings are present only in a few armored cars, while others (the vast majority of them) apply to all 15 transferred vehicles.
The following problems have become "isolated cases". In 5 armored cars, the undercarriage could not withstand the operational loads, which is why the brackets of the lateral shock absorbers broke. In one car, the winch could not withstand the load and broke. Another armored car, unlike the others, for some reason did not receive protective grilles on the windows.
The rest of the complaints relate to the entire batch of 15 delivered armored cars. All cars are leaking oil from the shock absorbers and there is no room for a spare wheel. There is a drawback in the form of the impossibility of turning on the front axle from the cab: to use all-wheel drive, you need to leave the car and turn it on manually. The complaint is caused by the complexity of operation and maintenance. So, the capabilities of the army supply do not allow the supply of fuel of the required quality, as a result of which the engine malfunction indicator is triggered in 60% of armored cars. In addition, servicing KrAZ Spartan machines requires a number of specific equipment and computer diagnostics, which makes it impossible to carry out work outside specially equipped service stations.
There are technical problems during operation. When driving over rough terrain, strong shocks are transmitted to the steering column. The electronic speedometer displays the speed in the metric system (km / h), but the mileage is calculated in miles. Finally, the delivered armored cars lack radio stations.
There are serious problems with the protection and armament of armored vehicles. The frontal armor was found to be insufficient, because of which, at the first hit of a fragment or a bullet, the machine may fail. The windshield does not withstand a second shot from small arms. When firing from a machine gun mounted on the top hatch, liners on the roof and windshield roll under the hood, which can lead to engine damage. The design of the turret makes it impossible to aim shooting while on the move. The machine gunner's protection was deemed insufficient. In addition, to replace the box with cartridges, the shooter must protrude significantly due to the existing shields.
Naturally, in the presence of such design flaws, the new KrAZ Spartan armored vehicles cannot effectively perform the assigned combat missions. There is an urgent need to take action, which is what A. Mochanov writes about. In his opinion, it is necessary to correct the shortcomings, and then re-conduct the tests under the same conditions.
What will happen next is not entirely clear yet. Perhaps the new series of armored cars "Spartan" will receive a number of innovations aimed at correcting the identified shortcomings. Nevertheless, other scenarios are possible, including negative ones for the fighters who will have to use this technique. So far, 21 armored vehicles of the new model have been ordered. It is quite possible that this order will be the last, and the shortcomings will have to be corrected by the direct operators in the person of the soldiers of the army or the National Guard.
A large number of identified shortcomings raise relevant questions. First of all, it is surprising that, as a whole, an interesting and modern armored car, as it follows from the advertising materials, turned out to be "raw" and requiring further refinement. The problems could be attributed to the poor-quality assembly carried out in Kremenchug. Nevertheless, a large number of shortcomings are associated with mistakes made during the design and production of assembly kits.
According to the authors of the well-known blog BMPD, the reason for all the problems found is the lack of competence of the developers. The Streit Group was previously engaged in the manufacture of rugged vehicles for various commercial structures and private customers. At the same time, the company completely lacked experience in creating full-fledged military armored equipment. In addition, the new Spartan and Cougar armored cars, developed by the company in recent years, have not passed full-fledged tests for several years, with the help of which modern armored vehicles are checked.
Armored cars with a mass of "congenital" flaws, developed by the company without experience, were hastily purchased by the Ukrainian military without due verification, fine-tuning and other measures, without which the adoption of new equipment is unthinkable. As a result, the army received armored vehicles that were almost unsuitable for full-fledged operation. Time will tell how the operation of such equipment will end. However, even now it can be assumed that "raw" vehicles will become an additional factor that increases the loss of equipment and personnel. As for the initiators of the dubious deal, they, most likely, as before, will remain on the sidelines and are unlikely to bear responsibility for their actions.
