During the recent forum Technologies in mechanical engineering-2012, several contracts were signed and a lot of interesting news was announced. In particular, it became known that military-technical cooperation between Russia and France will not be limited to landing ships of the Mistral project alone. By the end of next 2013, a new armored vehicle model will be added to the list of joint projects.
Cooperation between the two countries in the field of light armored vehicles became known back in February 2010. Then the first information appeared about the interest shown by the Russian security forces in the French Panhard VBL armored car. It was reported that the parties are ready to start discussing the terms of the future contract. However, news of an agreement for the supply of VBL soon ceased to arrive. Finally, at the very end of 2010, it was announced the creation of a joint Russian-Italian venture, which will build Iveco LMV armored cars, named "Lynx" in the Russian version. After that, any broad discussion of possible purchases of French technology finally stopped. A small surge of activity around this topic took place in March last year, when several media reported about the almost successful completion of negotiations on VBL armored cars. Then it was argued that in the coming months a contract could be signed for the construction and delivery of five hundred such machines to Russia. But even then it all ended at the level of news - the contract was not signed, and the messages about the agreements were soon forgotten.
As it turned out, those in charge from the domestic defense complex did not forget about these negotiations. Deputy General Director of Rosoboronexport I. Sevastyanov at the Technology in Mechanical Engineering Forum 2012 told reporters about the current state of affairs in cooperation between Russia and France in the field of armored vehicles. The negotiations of previous years were not in vain and led to a new agreement between the countries. Russia and France agreed to create a joint project for a promising new armored car. The approximate completion date of the project is one and a half years.
The technical details of the project have not yet been announced. Nevertheless, there is some reason to believe that the new armored car will to some extent resemble the already mentioned VBL. If this car really interested the Russian security officials, then, probably, it has certain qualities that meet their requirements. Accordingly, a new design can be created on the basis of the Panhard VBL car, having common units and assemblies with it. A few words about the French armored car. The car with a gross weight of up to four tons is equipped with a diesel engine with a capacity of 95 horsepower and, when driving on the highway, is capable of accelerating to more than one hundred kilometers per hour. Reservation of the basic version implies protection against non-armor-piercing bullets of 7.62 mm and small ammunition fragments, which corresponds to the first level of the STANAG 4569 standard. The vehicle can be armed with a machine gun, automatic grenade launcher, anti-tank missiles and other weapons that can be installed on its turret. With such characteristics, the VBL armored car can have the same tactical niche that was originally envisaged for domestic armored personnel carriers - the transportation of personnel to the front edge. In addition, such vehicles can be useful in police operations when the fighters are not threatened by something more serious than small arms.
In addition to the actual creation of a joint project, Sevastyanov let slip about the state of the project. By now, according to him, a mock-up of the future armored car is ready. From this we can conclude that joint design work has been going on for more than a day or even for the first month. For what reason the existence of a joint project was announced only now - one can only guess. In addition, according to the deputy head of Rosoboronexport, the new armored vehicle has certain prospects. So, first of all, this equipment will go to serve in the Russian power structures and, probably, in the French. It is also planned to create an export version of the armored car for supplies to third countries. A good image of the new car can be given by its partly French origin - in addition to France, VBLs are already in operation in 17 countries in Europe, Asia and South America. Accordingly, the new car, going back to the Panhard VBL, will at least attract the attention of potential buyers.
The consequences of the joint Russian-French armored vehicle project can be several positive things at once. First of all, the range of equipment of the Russian army, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB will be replenished with a new machine, created using the developments of the leading companies in the industry. The second positive side is the possibility of producing armored cars at their own factories. For example, the start of production of "Lynx" in Voronezh provided the creation of dozens of jobs. Finally, French achievements in the field of armored car construction, coupled with the reputation of Russian military equipment, will help both countries to promote their product on the international market and make good money on its sales.
