AvtoVAZ should remember about dual-use equipment
This is an armored pickup truck on an extended Niva chassis. Why AvtoVAZ doesn’t do this is unclear.
Nostalgia for "The River"
If you look at domestic automobile factories, it turns out that most of them are, to one degree or another, loaded with defense orders. Naturally, for the needs of the Russian special operation.
The Ural plant in Miass is busy with heavy trucks, and the Kama Automobile Plant operates in a similar way. In Ulyanovsk they produce a whole range of light vehicles for the army, starting with the legendary “Loaf” (the modern name of the UAZ SGR “Modern Truck Series”) and ending with the “Patriot”.
It is difficult to judge the level of workload of enterprises, since the information is closed, but indirect signs indicate a large series. For example, at all factories there is an acute shortage of personnel, which was not the case before the special operation.
The River project was AvtoVAZ’s first and last defense development at the moment.
Two original domestic factories stand out: Nizhny Novgorod GAZ and Tolyatti AvtoVAZ. And if the first enterprise managed to make its contribution to the defense complex in the past (we are talking about the Tiger, GAZ-66 and Sadko cars), then AvtoVAZ is still not involved in the state defense order. There are many reasons, but none of them justifies the company's aloofness.
The only vehicle that can be quickly rebuilt to meet the needs of the Russian Army is the Niva. During its wonderful and long career, the car has changed many names - at the moment the model is called LADA Niva Legend. Surprisingly, since 1977, not a single combat vehicle produced from the gates of the Togliatti automobile plant has been accepted into service. It is difficult to consider the many semi-handicraft modifications of the Niva for army structures to be the merit of AvtoVAZ.
History remembers Niva’s one and only attempt to develop the defense sector. We are talking about the experimental floating car “River”. Looking ahead, let's say that it was possible to create a light car capable of overcoming water obstacles only at the Lutsk Automobile Plant. During the Soviet period, all automobile enterprises were required to produce military equipment.
In Ukraine, they created the LuAZ-967 front-line transporter, which was very successful for its time, produced from 1965 to 1989. The next in the class was to be the Tolyatti “Reka”, and one step higher – the Ulyanovsk “Jaguar”. Neither of them went into production, but the designers gained experience in creating specific military equipment. Especially in Togliatti, where previously they had not thought about the needs of the army at all.
A few words about “The River”.
The car had an original boat body with folding windshield and side windows. The original Niva has three doors - the Reka was left with only two. The entire component base was transferred entirely from the VAZ-2121, which simultaneously reduced the final cost and simplified maintenance (you can read more about the Togliatti project in the material “Project “River”: combat amphibian from Tolyatti” ).
There are two reasons why the combat Niva did not go into production: chronic overheating of the units due to difficulties with ventilation and the inability of the main conveyor to produce such vehicles.
"Niva" for special operations
What role can Niva and its derivatives play in a special operation?
First of all, it will fill the niche of a light command vehicle. A simple and unpretentious vehicle with minimal armor will certainly not be rejected by any unit at the front. Factory workers have plenty of experience in this area. But it’s not AvtoVAZ that is setting up the Niva in a military manner. For example, the Shvabe SpetsAvto company presented an armored ambulance last December at the Russian Healthcare Week.
Armored ambulance from Shvabe SpetsAvto. Source: shvabe-sa.ru
The four-seater vehicle is designed to transport one bedridden patient and two or three seated ones. This is probably the first ambulance in Russia with loopholes and protection against 5,45 mm bullets. There is no information that the vehicle was built for the realities of a special operation. Only it was not built at AvtoVAZ.
“Shvabe SpetsAvto” continues the theme of the combat “Niva” with a specific armored pickup truck. The debut took place at the last Army forum.
The specialists did their best - 4,5-mm armored steel protects against machine gun fire, and the noticeably heavier vehicle is driven by a 106-horsepower engine. This is a stone thrown into the garden by civil engineers from AvtoVAZ, who since 1977 have not been able to deliver anything more powerful than an 83-horsepower engine. At Shvab they did it. The design of the armored pickup truck is simple - steel protection was simply hung on the outside of the body.
The result was a sandwich that noticeably made the car heavier. They didn’t even remove the Niva’s standard windshield, but simply covered the cabin with an armored cap with a pair of embrasures. The result is something like an anti-fragmentation lining, although such a solution may do even more harm than good.
Another Niva from Shvabe SpetsAvto
What prevents AvtoVAZ from putting similar cars into a wide series? In the photo there is a Lada 4x4 Z. Source – Vitaly Kuzmin.
In 2021, Moscow OKB Tekhnika built a Sarmat buggy based on the Niva. It is very difficult to guess the Togliatti SUV in the dashing car - the external body panels are original. The original concept of a windswept buggy in a special operation does not stand up to criticism. It is still possible to chase terrorists through the desert, but it is impossible to fight an enemy capable of firing several thousand shells per day. FPV adds colordrones, deadly for any open car even with an inaccurate hit.
As a result, Sarmat-3 was born - a lightly armored version of the buggy. The product was shown at the Army 2022 forum, but nothing was heard about the appearance of the vehicle on the fields of a special operation.
Sarmat-3 is perhaps the most successful version of the Niva for war. Photo – Yuri Pasholok
Why all the above?
Moreover, the Russian Army has a request for a Niva-class combat vehicle. Simple and inexpensive. Only AvtoVAZ itself can build something like this in large quantities. First of all, it will be much cheaper for the customer. Firms involved in reworking the Niva first have to spend money on buying the car, and then on disassembly and reassembly.
In Tolyatti, they could have long ago established a slipway assembly of military equipment from vehicle kits that are sent to the assembly line. I have experience. We are talking about the PSA Bronto company, which since 1993 has been producing, among other things, cash-in-transit Nivas. Even though they are armored primarily against pistol bullets, they are still protected vehicles, which are extremely necessary in a special operation. For example, the armored car Lada-Bronto 212142 “FORS-K”, which is indistinguishable from a civilian vehicle from ten steps.
The photo shows an armored Lada Bronto 212142 FORS-K. Source – bronto-psa.ru
Why hasn't Bronto delivered cars to the front yet?
A minimum of modifications are required - replace the panoramic armored glass with something more practical in combat and make the design as light as possible to increase the service life and load capacity. Bronto, by the way, is a subsidiary of AvtoVAZ. With minimal costs in the factory, you can turn the Niva into a carrier of a heavy machine gun and even an anti-tank missile system.
The economic effect is obvious - now, at market prices, the Tolyatti SUV is two times cheaper than the Ulyanovsk Patriot. Remove unnecessary options at the front, and the Niva will turn into an excellent fighter. It’s just necessary to move away from the buggy concept - let it remain for other wars.
Among the likely reasons why Tolyatti is not ready for combat Nivas is stress from foreign sanctions. Renault left last year, leaving the plant without components and a couple of models in its range. They still can’t put Largus on the assembly line, and XRay has been abandoned altogether.
China is still helping with critical components, but here too everything is ambiguous. The European Union and the United States can impose secondary sanctions at any time, and the assembly line will lose engine control units, ABS components and other luxuries.
In Togliatti they are making plans for Chinese engines with automatic transmissions. We intend to organize a screwdriver assembly of another car made in China. Where is the combat Niva from here?
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