The general director of the Military Industrial Company (VPK, part of the GAZ Group), Alexander Krasovitsky, told RIA Novosti news agency about the creation of the military-industrial complex of the new Strela (Arrow) light armored 4x4 vehicle, BMPD Live Journal reports. Krasovitsky emphasized that the Strela design uses Russian-made components.
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Light armored vehicle "Strela" developed by VPK Military Industrial Company in Russia (Picture source: BMPD Live Journal)
RIA Novosti reports that the empty weight of the Strela is 4.7 tons, which is half the mass of the Tigr family. The Strela also benefits from a ballistic protection that can withstand bullets from AK-74, AKM and SVD rifles. The maximum road speed is 155 km/h. The interlocutor of the agency explained that the mine protection enables the vehicle to withstand a mine or IED explosion equivalent to 2 kg of TNT (versus 600 grams of the Tigr). “To date, there are simply no such armored vehicles in the arsenal of our army,” Krasovitsky said.
“The small mass of the Strela makes it easy to transport this protected vehicle to a location by tactical airborne assault forces, using the external sling of transport helicopters such as a Mil Mi-8 (Mi-17). Depending on the internal design, up to eight people can be accommodated, including the driver, "he added.
Light armored vehicle "Strela" developed by VPK Military Industrial Company in Russia (Picture source: BMPD Live Journal)
Light armored vehicle "Strela" developed by VPK Military Industrial Company in Russia (Picture source: BMPD Live Journal)
