Excalibur Army and Ukroboronprom cooperate for military vehicles.

Excalibur Army and Ukraine’s State Concern Ukroboronprom have signed a memorandum of cooperation to develop, manufacture and promote innovative products in the field of militray vehicles, mainly armored ones. The signing of the memorandum was held during the international specialized exhibition "Arms and Security-2018" in Kyiv on October 9. Excalibur participated in this year’s Arms and Security international specialized exhibition in Kyiv, Ukraine.

BM-21 MT multiple launch rocket system (Picture source: DB)

"This is an opportunity to attract funding and investment in research and development, to finance promising samples and bring them to mass production. It is also an opportunity to form innovative technological chains for the modernization of our armored vehicles and the development of perspective designs,” Pavlo Bukin, Director General of Ukroboronprom, said. According to Bukin, the cooperation of Ukroboronprom and Excalibur provides for the joint supply of high-tech products to the markets of third countries.

Excalibur army designs, develops and produces a wide range of military vehicles and equipment. According to the Czech company, their production and repair facilities have decades long tradition that reaches back to 1950s. During the Arms and Security international exhibition in Kyiv, the company showcased its latest vehicles, including the new BM-21 MT multiple-launch rocket system, the Sakal armoured infantry fighting vehicle and the Dana M2 self-propelled howitzer. As to the BM-21 MT, this is the newest version of the Soviet-designed BM-21 Grad MLRS, based on the new Tatra T 815-7T3R2T 4x4. BM-21 MT is a firing support means for the ground troops, designed for the focused carpet destruction of the enemy’s position, their resources, military equipment and human forces within a distance of 1,600 to 20,380 meters.

The Sakal armoured infantry fighting vehicle is based on the Soviet-designed BMP-2. The turret is armed with a 30mm cannon, a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, anti-tank guided missile system and smoke grenade launchers. The layout of the Sakal is very similar to the standard BVP-2 but includes improvements. It is motorized with a more powerful powerpack coupled to an automatic transmission. The vehicle can run at a maximum road speed of 70 km/h, with a maximum cruising range of 550 km.

The 152 mm Dana vz. 77 self-propelled howitzer has gone through a major modernization presenting the most recent Dana M2 system. Thanks to the new more resistant cabin and the NBC filtration system, the Dana M2 provides the crew with the highest level of comfort and protection. The newly implemented automatic guiding system allows fast and fully-automatic weapon adjustment into fire position.