Ukrainian army receives Czech Excalibur Army MR-2 Viktor 14.5mm anti-aircraft vehicles

The Ukrainian Chief of Staff, Sergey Naev Units, informed that his units located on the border with Belarus have received mobile anti-aircraft twin-14.5mm heavy machine guns MR-2 Viktor manufactured by the Czech company Excalibur Army, topwar.ru reports.
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Excalibur Army's MR-2 anti-aircraft systems during training of the Ukrainian army (Picture source: Ukraine army via topwar.ru)

The "North" Group has recently acquired a fleet of anti-aircraft systems featuring twin 14.5 mm caliber machine guns, which have been mounted on Toyota Land Cruiser 70 pickup trucks. This advanced system was showcased by the Czech company Excalibur Army at the IDET 2023 defense exhibition, as reported by Army Recognition. According to General Naev, the units are highly mobile and the weapons are easy to maintain. Their primary objective is to combat Russian drones, with a particular focus on the Geran kamikaze drones. Additionally, these systems are capable of engaging low-altitude aircraft, helicopters, lightly armored vehicles, enemy field fortifications, and infantry. The utilization of the twin 14.5 mm anti-aircraft machine gun, mounted on the reliable Toyota Land Cruiser 70 chassis, proves to be a potent combination.

Although General Naev did not disclose the exact number of MR-2 systems received, footage captured during a recent exercise showcased six of these systems simultaneously. It is highly likely that these units have been exclusively allocated to the Sever group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. General Naev confirmed that this initial batch is just the beginning, indicating that more systems will be acquired in the future.

The MR-2 system is based on the Russian ZPU-2 twin-anti-aircraft machine guns, utilizing 14.5 mm caliber ammunition. The ZPU (which stands for "anti-aircraft machine gun mount") is a family of anti-aircraft guns originating from the Soviet Union. It is built around the powerful 14.5×114mm KPV heavy machine gun, which was introduced into Soviet service in 1949 and has since been adopted by over 50 countries worldwide. Variants of the ZPU include the quadruple-barreled ZPU-4, the double-barreled ZPU-2 and ZU-2, and the single-barreled ZPU-1. These machine guns possess ammunition that carries nearly twice the energy of standard 12.7 mm machine guns, enabling them to engage targets at distances of up to 2 kilometers. The ammunition capacity of the MR-2 system consists of 300 rounds stored in two boxes, with an additional 300 rounds readily available.

Excalibur Army MR-2 anti-aircraft systems delivered to the Ukrainian army (Picture source: Ukraine army via topwar.ru)

Defense News June 2023