Military-technical cooperation with foreign countries is always of great interest. In recent years, another topic of this kind has emerged, around which there is a constant debate. These are purchases of foreign weapons and military equipment. For example, according to the Russian-Italian agreement, armored vehicles "Lynx" are being assembled in Voronezh, which are actually renamed Iveco LMVs. Already at the stage of negotiations on this contract, the general public began to discuss such agreements and the need to purchase foreign cars. Despite the past time, the disputants have not yet come to a consensus. Now there is a new reason for the resumption of disputes around the "Lynx" / LMV.
During a visit to the enterprise in Voronezh, where the Lynxes are assembled, Defense Minister S. Shoigu proposed to conduct comparative tests of foreign development and domestic ones. Deputy Minister Yuri Borisov confirmed the possibility of such events and proposed the third training ground of the Ministry as a platform for them. Production representatives also agreed with the proposal and confirmed their readiness to provide a certain number of armored cars for comparison. Shoigu additionally noted that crews with operational experience should participate in comparative tests of armored vehicles. In this case, it will be possible to "remove" not only the technical characteristics, but also to receive feedback on the operation. The Minister stressed the importance of feedback from real users of technology.
To date, 57 "Rysy" vehicles have been assembled in Voronezh, and a total of more than 350 vehicles are currently planned to be produced. According to Deputy Minister Yuri Borisov, now there is no reason to revise the number of armored cars required by the army. But the question of signing another agreement with the Italians is being considered, which implies the supply of spare parts, training of technical personnel, etc. Borisov also acknowledged the fact that Iveco LMV armored cars have certain disadvantages. However, it is one of the main NATO vehicles, which can be considered an argument in favor of the machine. In addition, the deputy minister cited statistics received from foreign partners. According to the Italian side, during the operation in Iran, LMVs were exploded 130 times by mines and no one was killed. The Russian military has other information, of a more sad kind.
Finally, the Deputy Minister of Defense recalled the work of the KAMAZ plant, where a similar armored car is currently being developed. Next year, the company from Naberezhnye Chelny should present ready-made prototypes with the required characteristics of movement and protection. Thus, the range of armored car models for the Russian armed forces will once again expand.
However, of all the news regarding armored vehicles for military purposes, the most interesting is the comparison of the Italian LMV with Russian counterparts. Until now, all comparisons of Italian and Russian cars were carried out only in the form of mental experiments, but now it is proposed to conduct tests at the proving ground. Immediately after the appearance of messages about the proposal of the Minister of Defense, the question arose: with what kind of armored cars and by what methodology will the "Lynx" be compared. According to journalist D. Mokrushina, so far our automakers have nothing to oppose to the Italian design. All existing Russian-made armored cars are inferior to the LMV / Lynx in terms of mine protection. With similar in these parameters "Wolf" and "Tigrom-6A" there was a not entirely pleasant situation: the development of the first is just being completed, and about the second there is almost no exact information. So for now, the tests could be limited to only test drives around the test site, followed by a comparison of the characteristics of the machines being tested.
Shortly after S. Shoigu's proposal, Yuri Borisov clarified the situation. According to him, in the first months of next year, the domestic "Tiger-M" and "Wolf" will "compete" with the armored car "Lynx". There are also questions on this score. The developers of the "Wolf" armored car previously claimed that the explosive tests of the vehicle would begin no earlier than the end of the spring of next year. Because of this, the timing of full-fledged comparative tests, including those with trial detonations, may be shifted by several months. It is worth noting that such a development of events will, in a sense, be even useful. In this case, it will be possible to "drive" the compared cars in different regions of the country and in different weather. Thus, it will be possible to test the capabilities of the machines not only at one test site, but also in various other conditions. Explosion resistance tests do not require any special meteorological or geographic conditions and therefore their implementation will be one of the simplest parts of all measures compared to armored cars.
It is noteworthy that the current version of the "Lynx" will take part in future tests, which is almost no different from the original LMV armored car. According to Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov, our industrialists managed to come to an agreement with the Italian about some modifications to the armored car design, thanks to which it will more fully meet Russian requirements and become better adapted to the conditions in which we have to work in our country. At the same time, it will be possible to find out the advantages and disadvantages of domestic machines, and then refine their designs. Finally, comparative tests of domestic and foreign cars can put an end to the dispute about which one is better.
Apparently, the Ministry of Defense considers the Lynx / LMV a suitable and convenient armored car, but they still want to slightly change this car in accordance with domestic conditions. It is already known that the KAMAZ plant will participate in the renovation of the Lynx project. In addition, in addition to constructive revisions, the joint project is expected to change the technological plan. Currently, in Voronezh, about 10% of all work on the manufacture of armored cars is carried out, and the remaining 90% are done in Italy, before the transportation of components and assemblies to Russia. After all the planned changes, the Russian side is going to bring the level of localization up to 75-80 percent, i.e. the vast majority of work will be carried out in Russia, and supplies from abroad will be limited only to individual ready-made components.
Now it is difficult to talk about the results of comparative tests. As already noted, in some characteristics, domestic armored cars are superior to the LMV, but lose in others. Because of this, the military, based on the results of all measures, will have to analyze a whole complex of characteristics, data, etc. In addition, when making future decisions, you will have to take into account the feedback from soldiers who have already had to use armored cars of all types. So the final choice of several models of armored cars, if any, will be a very difficult decision. And, most likely, not fast.
