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Russian Company ZSA will test anti-mine capabilities of new K4386 Typhoon 4x4 MRAP 12510161

Military Defense Industry Technology - K4386 MRAP

Russian Company ZSA will test anti-mine capabilities of new K4386 Typhoon 4x4 MRAP.

JSC Special Automobiles Plant (Russian acronym: ZSA, Zavod Spetsialnyh Avtomobiley) will test the anti-mine capabilities of its newest K4386 Typhoon (Taifun) mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles intended for Russia`s Airborne Forces (VDV, Vozdushno-Desantnie Voyska), according to the Business Online newspaper.

Russian-made K4386 Typhoon mine-resistant ambush-protected in live demonstration

Several years ago, the plant launched the final stage of the K4386 development. The relevant airdropping tests were scheduled for September 2016 to be followed by anti-mine and protection trials. The experts of Business Online point out that ZSA has met all requirements issued by VDV. According to the pundits, such kind of collaboration may be profitable for both sides.

The K4386 MRAP vehicle`s anti-mine capabilities are to be tested before the year-end, the newspaper said. Taifun-VDV has received a remote controlled weapon station (RCWS); therefore, the manufacturer has already defined the design of the armoured car. The vehicle is being developed under a contract signed with Russia`s Ministry of Defense (MoD) in November 2015, according to Business Online. It should be noted that K4386 was originally intended for the VDV troops. Therefore, the demonstrator of the armoured car was produced within five months.

At the same time, the development of a MRAP vehicles for the service was announced by KAMAZ (the company has ceased the designing of armoured vehicles) several years ago. In February 2013, then-acting Commander-in-Chief of VDV, Colonel General Vladimir Shamanov said that KAMAZ has a dual-axis heavy car intended for the Airborne Forces. The officer was supposed to have mentioned the K53949 (unofficially named Taifunyonok). It is believed to have become the basic model of the new MRAP vehicle.

"We expect that the development of the new wheeled platform for VDV will be finished at an early date. We suppose that the vehicle equipped with a combat module will have been designed by the year-end. The service will master the car," Shamanov said in late 2013. On May 16, 2016, the general informed that Russia`s defense industry had started the assembly of 4x4 wheeled armoured vehicles protected at Level 5 GOST/Level 2 STANAG 4569 (all-round protection against 7.62 mm steel core armour-piercing bullets at 30 m distance). "We are planning to get the demonstrators [of the vehicle] before the year-end in order to start the relevant operational tests and evaluation," Shamanov pointed out. According to the open sources, the factory trials of K4386 started in Spring 2016, and the military authorities highly appreciated the results achieved by the vehicle.

The new armoured vehicle for VDV should be an air-droppable one, being able to transport airborne soldiers on the battlefield and to protect them against bullets and small fragments. The vehicle has a high level of localization - 50% for the demonstrator and 70-80% for serially produced vehicles. According to the open sources, the K4386 MRAP vehicle is armoured at Level 3 (K) STANAG 4569 (all-round protection against 7.62mm hard steel/tungsten alloy armour-piercing bullets at 30 m distance). The MRAP car can withstand the explosion of 8 kg (explosive mass) anti-tank mine under its belly or any wheel (Level 3 (M) a/b STANAG 4569).

It is equipped with 14.00 R20 run-flat tires. The engine compartment of the car is reinforced with additional ceramic armour plates. K4386 can be armed with a remotely controlled 14.5 mm KPVT heavy machinegun to increase the vehicle`s self-defense capabilities. The vehicle can carried six to eight mounted soldiers. The demonstrator of the vehicle was powered by a multifuel diesel engine (350 h.p.) developed by Cummins and produced by KAMAZ under license. It is supposed to be replaced by a Russian-originated analogue under the import substitution program. The engine is coupled with an automatic transmission.

The K4386 also features an independent hydropneumatic suspension, an automatic maximum pressure override system, an air conditioning unit, and anti-blast seats (ABS). The ABSs integrated with the K4386 MRAP vehicle significantly increase the survivability of the mounted soldiers on the modern battlefield. The armoured car is supposed to receive an RCWS armed with 30 mm automatic cannon. In September 2016, the Designer General of KAMAZ, Danis Valeev said that K4386 features chassisless construction with an integral body and a weight reduced by 2 t (compared to the basic model). The editor-in-chief of the Arms Export magazine, Andrey Frolov told the Business Online newspaper that the developers are believed to use the previously gathered experience during the development of the new vehicle for the Airborne Forces.