Armored car "Patrol". Latest news
Significant amount of information about stories project "Patrol", its current state and prospects was announced in early October. The business electronic newspaper of Tatarstan "Business Online" has published an interview with the general director of Asteys JSC, Alexander Pukhnenkov. In an interview with the reporter of the publication, the head of the defense enterprise revealed several important topics. A special place in the conversation took a draft armored car "Patrol".
According to A. Pukhnenkov, at present, the armored cars of the new family are being tested. At the same time, in the next 2018 year, the Asteys enterprise intends to launch the mass production of such equipment. Several modifications of the armored car will go into mass production, but which ones are not yet specified. The range of products will be determined by the customer when signing the purchase contract.
At the moment there are three modifications of the “Patrol”, having both minor and serious differences. In different projects of the family, a base machine with the same basic characteristics is used. At the same time, armored cars may differ in the location of the spare wheel, the presence of a mechanized ramp or a combat module, etc.
The basis of armored cars "Patrol" was the chassis of the development of the Kama Automobile Plant. According to the general director of "Asteys", this feature of the armored vehicle gives certain advantages. It will be possible to service armored cars on such chassis at any KamAZ service center, and this makes it easier to carry out repair work in comparison with other modern armored cars. To realize these benefits, two companies must sign the corresponding agreement.
As A. Pukhnenkov said, several experienced “Patrols” have already been built, differing in configuration and intended for participation in trials. Two armored cars were handed over to the Russian Guard under inspection and evaluation, the results of which will result in a decision on the acceptance of equipment for supply. Two more armored cars were sent to one of the parts of the Ministry of Defense with the same objectives.
The head of the company told about the features of product promotion in the units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. By the time the first “Patrol” armored vehicle appeared, the internal troops of the Ministry of the Interior did not have equipment of this class with the same characteristics and capabilities. At the same time, mistrust arose due to the fact that the armored car was not accepted for supply. However, soon the opinion of a potential customer began to change. OMON fighters and responsible persons clearly showed the capacity of the armored car, and in addition, they confirmed the possibility of mass production.
After that, the opinion of the Ministry of Internal Affairs / Rosguards changed. There were recommendations on the processing of certain devices technology. Experts advised to change the number of doors, provide for the installation of lighting equipment, as well as equip an armored car with a remotely controlled combat module. All of these recommendations were implemented, and the modified “Patrols” were again put to the test, based on the results of which a decision would be made on the acceptance of equipment for supply.
Engineers of Asteys, including in the framework of cooperation with other enterprises, have worked several specialized modifications of the armored car. The customer showed interest in the “Patrols” both in the initial transport configuration and as a carrier of special equipment. The variants of reconnaissance armored vehicles, protected transport for sappers, sanitary armored vehicles and control vehicles were worked out. In the latter case, according to A. Pukhnenkov, the existing salon almost completely occupied various equipment, and in the free volumes only three operator chairs fit.
Asteys JSC is currently negotiating with Rosoboronexport, as a result of which the Patrol armored car can be launched to the international machinery market. The export armored car is said to be almost the same as the Russian one. However, the possibility of creating a modification with the right-hand arrangement of the control station intended for countries with left-hand traffic is not excluded.
For several years, engineers have developed an existing project, reworking it in accordance with the test results and the wishes of customers. This process is likely to continue after the appearance of an order for mass production. The CEO of the company-developer believes that the appearance of the car will be improved over the next five years.
Recall armored "Patrol" was first introduced in the 2014 year. The machine was developed on its own initiative, it was planned to offer it to the military department and law enforcement agencies. Further development of the project was continued and led to the most noticeable results. So, already in 2015, an experienced “Patrol” was demonstrated with a sharply reduced share of imported units. The development of the project is still ongoing, and is now being carried out taking into account the wishes of the customer and the results of the tests.
The basis of the Patrol armored vehicle is a KAMAZ two-axle all-wheel drive chassis with an 740.652-260 engine. On top of it is installed a case developed by the specialists of Asteys JSC. The hull has ballistic and mine protection. Internal volumes with a total size of 12,5 cubic meters are available to accommodate passengers and cargo. This allows you to transport up to ten people with weapons, including the driver and commander, or equivalent cargo. The maximum carrying capacity of the armored car is 1,5 t. It is possible to tow a trailer with a weight of 5 t.
The armored body of the original design is built on the bonnet and is divided into two main compartments. In the smaller front is the power plant, a large rear is designed for cargo or crew. For landing in the car are encouraged to use a set of doors, the composition of which can be determined by the customer. So, the prototypes had one or two doors on the left side and two on the right, complemented by the aft door. There is also a modification of an armored car with a mechanized stern ramp.
In the recent past, it was argued that the Patrol corpus conforms to 4 protection class as per GOST 50963, providing protection against low-impulse automatic cartridges with an armor-piercing bullet. At the same time, it was possible to use more powerful reservations, up to the 6 class (armor-piercing 7,62-mm rifle bullet). Mine protection withstands the undermining of 2 kg of TNT under a wheel or bottom.
In a recent interview, the general director of Asteys indicated other protection characteristics, apparently related to the current version of the armored car. Thus, the armor provides protection for the 5 class - from non-armored rifle bullets. After testing by undermining, the specialists carried out an experiment in which they planned to determine the correctness of the solutions used. Following the exploding of 2 kg of TNT, under the wheel and bottom in the same positions, charges of 4 and 6 kg were blown up. According to A. Pukhnenkov, the conditional crew survived.
The head of the developer organization noted that the armored car has a certain potential in terms of increasing the level of protection. However, the growth margin of protection is limited by the chassis capabilities. Serial units can withstand only 12 t, and exceeding the permissible mass of the units can lead to known negative consequences.
Like other cars of its class, armored "Patrol" is able to solve a wide range of combat and transport tasks. Acting as a protected vehicle, this vehicle can be used to patrol, escort convoy, conduct reconnaissance, etc. In addition, the proposed new projects of specialized modifications of the armored car, appropriately affecting the potential of the family. It is already known about the creation of an armored car for sappers, ambulance and command vehicles.
To date, Asteys has managed to build and test only a few armored vehicles in various configurations. One of them, previously used in ballistic and mine protection tests, is now stored at the factory. Several others are currently being tested in units of the armed forces and the Rosguards. The latter must show the full potential of technology and convince the customer of the need to adopt it.
With a favorable set of circumstances and the successful completion of all the necessary tests, orders for serial armored cars from security forces may appear in the very near future. In this case, the serial production of “Patrols” will start in 2018 year. At the same time, the company-developer does not yet know exactly how many armored vehicles can be acquired by government agencies. Obviously, we will talk about dozens of cars, but the exact numbers have not yet been determined.
It should be noted that the company "Asteys" not only proposed a new project of a multi-purpose armored car, but also took up its active development. The initial project is constantly being finalized in accordance with the requirements of potential customers. In addition, the basic transport and passenger vehicle is considered as a carrier of special equipment or weapons. All these processes to date have led to the formation of this family of technology, which has certain prospects.
However, despite the optimism of the authors of the new projects, one should not forget that several experienced “Patrols” are still on trial, and orders to put the equipment into service have not yet appeared. The fate of promising projects will be finally determined in the very near future. If events develop in a positive way, then security forces will be able to receive new equipment with high performance and wide capabilities.
On the materials of the sites:
https://business-gazeta.ru/
http://astais.ru/
http://bastion-opk.ru/
http://arms-expo.ru/
https://bmpd.livejournal.com/
- Ryabov Kirill
- JSC "Asteys"
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