Russia and France are creating a joint project of an armored car
The cooperation of the two countries in the field of lightly armored vehicles became known back in February 2010. Then the first information appeared about the interest shown by the Russian security forces in the French Panhard VBL armored car. It was reported that the parties are ready to start discussing the terms of the future contract. However, news of an agreement on VBL shipments soon ceased to flow. Finally, at the very end of the 2010 of the year, it was announced the creation of a joint Russian-Italian enterprise, which will be engaged in the construction of Iveco LMV armored cars, in the Russian version received the name "Lynx". After that, any broad discussion of possible purchases of French equipment finally ceased. A small surge of activity around this topic took place in March last year, when a number of media outlets reported on the almost successful conclusion of negotiations on VBL armored cars. Then it was argued that in the coming months a contract for the construction and supply of five hundred such machines to Russia could be signed. But here it all ended at the news level - the contract was not signed, and messages about the agreements were soon forgotten.
As it turned out, the responsible persons from the national defense complex did not forget about these negotiations. Rosoboronexport Deputy General Director I. Sevastyanov at the Technology in Mechanical Engineering-2012 forum told reporters about the current state of affairs in the cooperation of Russia and France in the field of armored vehicles. Negotiations of previous years were not in vain and led to a new agreement between the countries. Russia and France have agreed to create a joint project of a new promising armored car. The approximate completion of the project is one and a half years.
Technical details of the project have not yet been announced. Nevertheless, there are certain grounds for believing that the new armored car will, to a certain extent, resemble the already mentioned VBL. If this car really interested Russian security officials, then it probably has certain qualities that meet their requirements. Accordingly, on the basis of the Panhard VBL car, a new design can be created that has common components and assemblies with it. A few words about the French armored car. The car with a gross weight of up to four tons is equipped with a diesel engine with horsepower 95 and, when driving on the highway, it can accelerate to over a hundred kilometers per hour. Reservation of the base case implies protection against non-armor-piercing bullets of 7,62 caliber of millimeter and small pieces of ammunition, which corresponds to the first level of the STANAG 4569 standard. The machine can be armed with a machine gun, an automatic grenade launcher, anti-tank missiles and other weapons that can be mounted on its turret. With such characteristics, the VBL armored car can have the same tactical niche that was originally envisaged for domestic armored personnel carriers - transportation of personnel to the front edge. In addition, these machines can be useful in police operations, when the fighters are not threatened by something more serious than a rifle weapons.
In addition to actually creating a joint project, Sevastyanov blurted out about the status of the project. By now, he said, the layout of the future armored car is ready. From this we can conclude that the joint design work is not the first day or even the first month. For whatever reason, the existence of a joint project was announced just now - one can only guess. In addition, according to the deputy head of Rosoboronexport, the new armored vehicle has certain prospects. So, first of all this equipment will go to serve in the Russian power structures and, probably, in French. It is also planned to create an export version of the armored car for deliveries to third countries. A good image of a new car can be attributed in part to its French origin - in addition to France, VBLs are already in use in 17 countries of Europe, Asia and South America. Accordingly, the new car, which goes back to the Panhard VBL, will at least attract the attention of potential buyers.
The consequences of the joint Russian-French project of an armored car can be several positive things at once. First of all, the range of equipment of the Russian army, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB will be supplemented with a new machine, created using the developments of leading companies in the industry. The second positive side is the possibility of producing armored cars at their enterprises. For example, the start of production of “Lynx” in Voronezh ensured the creation of dozens of jobs. Finally, French achievements in the construction of armored vehicles, coupled with the reputation of Russian military equipment, will help both countries to promote their product on the international market and make good money on its sales.
On the materials of the sites:
http://lenta.ru/
http://bfm.ru/
http://www.panhard.fr/
http://infox.ru/
http://mport.bigmir.net/
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