Does Iraq no longer need Ukrainian armored personnel carriers?
At the end of January 2013, the media reported that the Iraqi Defense Ministry was considering the possibility of canceling the contract with Ukraine for the supply of 2009 BTR-420 armored personnel carriers signed in 4 in the year. According to published data, the Iraqi side has big complaints about the technical and operational characteristics of the armored personnel carrier, the quality of their production. In addition, Iraq is dissatisfied with the constant disruption of the Ukrainian side of the delivery dates. However, it seems that there is a certain political aspect in this matter.
Today, it is no secret to anyone that 2009 contracts of the year, worth about 458 million dollars, and which involved the purchase of over four hundred wheeled armored vehicles in Ukraine, were in fact imposed on the Iraqi government by the United States of America. Thus, the US government "thanked" Ukraine for supporting the military campaign in Iraq. Recall that in the 2007 year, the US military published information that in the near future over three hundred Ukrainian armored personnel carriers BTR-3Е1 are to be sold to Iraq through the American system of intergovernmental supplies FMS. However, the Iraqis had to conclude a contract for the purchase of more modern armored personnel carriers BTR-4. Thus, Iraq became the first customer who bought the Ukrainian “novelty”. According to the terms of the signed contract, all wheeled armored vehicles, namely 420 units, should have been delivered to Iraq before March last year.
Despite this, the Iraqi side has so far managed to get only 88 machines from the specified 420 (26 of them were sent in the spring of 2011 of the year, and 62 machines in the middle of the autumn of 2012 of the year). Such delays in deliveries are primarily associated with a large number of problems faced by the Kharkiv Malyshev Plant.
It should also be noted that at the moment there is no information regarding the payment document, according to which the Ukrainian defense industry could receive money for armored personnel carriers sent in the vulgar year.
By the end of 2012, it was planned to ship another batch of BTR-4 in the number of 94 vehicles to Iraq. But, as is already clear, deliveries were not made, and the machines themselves are still at the production stage. And even more, the Iraqi Defense Ministry, referring to the fact that the contract had come to an end, announced in the autumn of 2012 that it intended to initiate negotiations with Russia and South Korea regarding the supply of similar armored vehicles.
Such behavior of the Iraqi side is quite expected. From the very beginning of the contract, there were problems with its implementation: either the Ukrainians delayed deliveries, or the Iraqis refused to accept the equipment due to malfunctions. And each time there were "extreme" - those companies in which it was possible to shift all the blame for failures. But in reality, as analysts say, the problem is not at all in the quality of Ukrainian technology, since it fully meets NATO standards. The fact is that representatives of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense cannot find a common language with representatives of the Ukrainian concern Ukrspetsexport.
More specifically, we are talking about Dmitry Salamatin, who, barely taking up his duties as minister of defense, tried to take international contracts under his personal control. He initiated the suspension of intermediaries, through whose efforts Ukraine was able to sign a contract with Iraq. In addition, they were given a condition - to give three-quarters of their earnings under the contract. It is clear that the mediators refused. Then offshore structures were introduced into the financial scheme, which had nothing to do with this contract, which, in fact, threatened a multi-million contract.
But, as experts say, the management of Ukrspetsexport did not take into account one feature of the arms market - all large-scale contracts are concluded solely with the help of intermediaries who are trusted by both the buyer and the seller. It is clear that when the Ukrainian side refused to play by such simple rules, Iraq considered itself completely free from any obligations.
By the way, similar problems exist in Ukraine’s negotiations with Ethiopia, China, Libya and many other states with which the Ukrainian defense-industrial complex cooperates.
It should also be noted that the new BTR-4 wheeled armored personnel carriers were to be supplied to the Ukrainian army. However, it is clear that the decision to acquire 10 machines of export configuration BTR-4E had a clearly defined political character. The appearance of these machines in the Ukrainian army was supposed to promote the advancement of technology to the international market as such, which is used by the national armed forces. However, in spite of the fact that deliveries were supposed to be carried out before the end of last year, so far they have not yet been made.
For a long period of time, the Ukrainian military ministry sharply criticized the basic design of the BTR-4 armored personnel carrier, demanding that it be modernized and redesigned to a considerable degree. Such improvements were planned to be carried out in the framework of the BTR-4M project. Only at the beginning of this year, a prototype model of an armored personnel carrier BTR-4МВ for this project appeared. At the same time, in order to reduce the cost of production, the car was converted from the BTR-4В, which was unsuccessfully moving to Macedonia. The whole essence of the rework was to install the aft ramp and replace the bow of the hull with a new one, without doors and armored glass. At the same time in the rear part there is a folding ramp with an additional door, through which landing is possible. Armor protection has 3 level according to NATO standards. In addition, it is possible to install additional protection in order to provide 4 and 5 levels of protection according to NATO standards. The prototype is equipped with the German engine Deutz and the American Allison gearbox. On the armored carrier installed combat module "Sail".
However, in view of the uncertain position of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense regarding the BTR-4 armored personnel carriers, as well as the obvious shortcomings of the vehicles, the Bolshoi-5 and BTR-9. According to official information, these vehicles will resemble modern Western armored personnel carriers and will have more powerful mine protection. In addition, several years earlier, at a different Ukrainian enterprise, the Nikolaevsk Repair and Mechanical Plant, a prototype BTR-7 was developed and produced, which was subsequently successfully tested in the UAE.
Thus, it is quite obvious that the Ukrainian military-industrial complex has potential. And only on competent leadership and sufficient funding will depend on whether the products of the Ukrainian defense industry can compete in the global arms market.
Materials used:
http://bmpd.livejournal.com/447999.html
http://gazeta.zn.ua/POLITICS/bagdadskie_vorishki.html
Information