Russian army will take delivery of armoured recovery vehicle derived fom Kurganets platform TASS 11511162

Defence & Security News - Russia
 
Russian army will take delivery of armoured recovery vehicle derived fom Kurganets platform.
The Russian Army will take on strength a sophisticated armored recovery vehicle (ARV) derived from the Kurganets platform in several years, according to the Izvestia daily. The Russian Defense Ministry and Special Machinebuilding Design Bureau (SKBM) have launched the testing of the unique armored recovery vehicle capable of recovering damaged infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) and armored personnel carriers (APC) from the battlefield even under very heavy incoming fire without its crew having to expose themselves.
     
The Russian Army will take on strength a sophisticated armored recovery vehicle (ARV) derived from the Kurganets platform in several years, according to the Izvestia daily. Scale model of Russian-made armoured recovery vehicle based on Kurganets paltform
     
The advanced vehicle derived from the cutting-edge Kurganets IFV also carries a set of equipment adequate for replacing engines, gearboxes, friction clutches and other units of the recovered hardware.

"The vehicle is in trials now, and its service entry is expected at the same time with that of the baseline models of the Kurganets-25 family," SKBM Chief Designer Sergei Abdulov said.

The Russian Defense Ministry has told the Izvestia newspaper that the new vehicle would be fielded with Army infantry battalions and Marine units operating the advanced Kurganets and Bumerang combat vehicles and venerable BTR-80 and BTR-82A APCs and BMP-2 and BMP-3 IFVs.

Unfortunately, the in-service previous-generation ARVs will be unable to handle the recovery and repair of the Kurganets and Bumerang, a Defense Ministry official close to the problem has explained to the Izvestia daily. The advanced ARV includes a unique quick recovery system requiring no participation of the crew. Previously, troops had to exit the vehicle under fire, risking their lives to attach the towing cable to damaged APCs or IFVs. Now, the crew of the advanced ARV has only to drive up to a damaged vehicle, and a special remotely controlled device will attach the ears of the towing cables to the towing rings on the damaged vehicle’s hull.

While the IFV and APC derived from the Kurganets-25 medium tracked platform have been repeatedly displayed during parades in the Red Square, the armored recovery vehicle is yet to be unveiled.
     
The Russian Army will take on strength a sophisticated armored recovery vehicle (ARV) derived from the Kurganets platform in several years, according to the Izvestia daily.
     
It looks similar to the Kurganets IFV in appearance. However, the turret with an automatic gun and missile launchers has been replaced with a special crane, a towing winch and extra armored containers for tools and spares. Using the winch and cables, the ARV will tow damaged vehicles, while the crane will be used by its crew in replacing damaged units with brand-new ones carried on board.

The vehicle is superior to its predecessors, e.g. the BREM-L Beglyanka, in terms of a higher lifting capacity of its crane and a higher pull of its winch, Chief Designer Sergei Abdulov said. For self-defense, the ARV mounts the same fighting module with a 12.7-mm machinegun as the one carried by the Bumerang APC. Its armor protection will be exactly as the one of the baseline IFV. This sets it apart from the BREM-L Beglyanka, which armor protection is somewhat inferior to that of the BMP-3 IFV, from which the BREM-L Beglyanka was derived.

According to expert Oleg Zheltonozhko, recent local wars and armed conflicts involving Russian Army units have again highlighted the need for up-to-date recovery vehicles. There is always the need for well-protected prime movers able to quickly recover fighting vehicles damaged in battle or on the march, Zheltonozhko explained. The lessons learnt by the Russian Army from the Chechen wars and by the US Army in Iraq indicate that loaded recovery vehicles are vulnerable to the enemy’s organic weapons and their crews take undue risks when recovering hardware.

The sophisticated Russian armored recovery vehicle differs from the previous-generation ones in higher protection and the remote-controlled recovery systems and features a complete set of tools and accessories for repairing APCs and IFVs, according to the Izvestia daily.
     
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