Airborne commandos will receive close to 40 Tiger-M armored vehicles by the end of the year armed with remote-controlled Arbalet combat module, the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry said on Nov. 3, 2017.

A Tigr-M armed with the Arbalet-DM RCWS at ARMY 2017 defense forum in Russia

"Modernized Tigers are armed with a large-caliber machinegun and modern optical-electronic reconnaissance complex with the latest navigation and orientation systems, a TV camera, a heat seeker, a laser ranger and other specialized equipment," it said.

The latest armored vehicles with an automated combat module differ from predecessors by rapid camouflage means.

They will considerably expand combat capabilities of special task forces and mobility of reconnaissance teams, as well as their ability to operate far from the main airborne forces.

The Arbalet-DM-furnished Tigr-M was unveiled at the Victory Day Parade on May 9, 2016. The module can equip wheeled and tracked armored vehicles, surface ships and stationary security posts. It packs the 12.7-mm KORD machinegun with the 150-round ammunition load or the 7.62-mm PKTM machinegun with 250 rounds of ammunition.

The module locks on and tracks targets at the halt and on the move, and its TV and thermal-imaging cameras allow target identification at a distance of 2.5 km and 1.5 km respectively. Its sight has an integral laser target rangefinder.

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