Infantry units of Russian Arctic Brigade will be equipped with upgraded BTR-82A 8x8 armored APC TASS 12812162

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Infantry units of Russian Arctic Brigade will be equipped with upgraded BTR-82A 8x8 armored APC.
The infantry units of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Arctic brigade will be equipped with upgraded BTR-82A armored personnel carriers (APC) tailored to the harsh environment of the High North, according to the Izvestia daily. The APCs will have improved climate control ensuring the stable operation of the electronic sights, radios and other sophisticated gear.
     
The infantry units of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Arctic brigade will be equipped with upgraded BTR-82A armored personnel carriers (APC) tailored to the harsh environment of the High North, according to the Izvestia daily. The APCs will have improved climate control ensuring the stable operation of the electronic sights, radios and other sophisticated gear. Russian army BTR-82A 8x8 APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) at live demonstration during Army-2016 International Technical Forum near Moscow, Russia
     
The BTR-82A will become the first wheeled combat vehicle to enter the inventory of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Arctic units. Interestingly, no other military in the world has Arctic APCs.

The Military Industrial Company shall have supplied the Defense Ministry with 20 advanced BTR-82As before year-end. Some of them will be in a special Arctic configuration, a Defense Ministry official close to the subject has told the Izvestia daily. The vehicles will be furnished with advanced units and the heat insulation of their engine compartments and electronic equipment will be increased. The gearbox and engine oils will be replaced with the ones fit for use in the Arctic. These APCs will burn special diesel fuel guaranteeing the cold diesel engine’s start at an ambient temperature of -60°C.

According to the Izvestia daily’s source, the future Arctic brigades will be armed in accordance with the geographic areas they are going to operate in - one kind of vehicles for the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, others for the Chukotka Peninsula’s coast. In 2015, the Arctic brigade received only DT-10MP Vityaz tracked off-road vehicles, TTM-490PS-10 high-mobility amphibious all-terrain artics and AM-1 quadbikes. The BTR-82A will be the first highly protected wheeled combat vehicles able to ride in swampy tundra, ice hummocks with snow 60 cm deep, and a sea coast in an equally effective manner.

A 300-hp engine powers the BTR-82A, affording it enhanced off-road mobility and maneuverability under the harsh conditions of the High North. Unlike the rest of the Arctic brigade’s inventory, the APC mounts a formidable gunnery armament in the form of a commonized fighting module housing the 30-mm 2A72 automatic gun and 7.62-mm PKTM coaxial machine gun.
     
The infantry units of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Arctic brigade will be equipped with upgraded BTR-82A armored personnel carriers (APC) tailored to the harsh environment of the High North, according to the Izvestia daily. The APCs will have improved climate control ensuring the stable operation of the electronic sights, radios and other sophisticated gear.
     
Unlike previous APC models, the BTR-82A features better protection against armor-piercing projectiles and their fragments owing to the composite spall liner covering the vehicle’s internal surfaces, including its floor. The spall liner improves not only the survivability of the crew, units and systems, but the heat insulation as well, thus facilitating the work of the optical and electronic systems in low ambient temperature.

Expert Victor Murakhovsky reminded that the BTR-82A was on the Army Technology international magazine’s Top-10 list of APCs in 2014. The rating’s authors highlighted the BTR-82A’s protection, firepower and mobility. Other vehicles on the list were the Finnish Patria, German Boxer, Swiss Piranha V, Austrian Pandur II and US Stryker. The Russian APC is the only one among them to have passed the tests qualifying it for operations in low ambient temperature. The tests took place on the premises of the 38th Armored Vehicle Research Institute in Kubinka (Moscow Region), where extreme temperature drops were created in special chambers.

"One of the missions of the Arctic infantry brigade is quick reaction to threats cropping up in the area between Murmansk and New Siberian Islands," Victor Murakhovsky said. "Their job is to ensure uninterrupted shipping via the Northern Sea Route and safeguard the military and administrative installations on the [Arctic] coast."

The fielding of the BTR-82A will boost the combat capabilities of the Arctic units. Unlike tracked vehicles, the BTR-82A is mobile. Airlifters or naval ships can carry it, according to the Izvestia daily.
     
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