KrAZ Spartan armored car: expectations and problems
Currently, the Ukrainian authorities are actively trying to compensate for the loss of military equipment. To equip the armed forces and the National Guard under the restoration of combat vehicles removed from storage, as well as attempts to purchase or build new equipment. In the matter of equipping army units, Kiev has to manage not only on its own, but also ask for help from foreign companies. A vivid example of the latter is the recent events around the Streit Group / KrAZ Spartan armored car.
The Spartan armored car (“Spartan”) was developed by the Canadian company Streit Group and first presented to the public in 2013. The aim of the project was to create a multipurpose armored car designed for delivery to third countries. To date, the Canadian armored vehicles have been purchased by new Libyan authorities and the armed forces of Nigeria. More recently, the Streit Group has made a lucrative offer to all potential customers of its armored vehicles: if necessary, the production of Spartan armored vehicles can be carried out at the enterprises of the client country.
Last summer, it became known that the Ukrainian army, in need of a large number of modern armored vehicles, is showing its interest in Spartan armored cars. Already 24 August such equipment took part in the parade dedicated to the Independence Day of Ukraine. At the same time, the transfer of vehicles to the troops was noticeably delayed.
Spartan armored car is a light armored vehicle based on a commercial chassis. The basis for this Canadian car was the Ford 550, which affected a number of its characteristics. The project involves the installation of the original armored hull on a borrowed chassis, which should simplify and cheapen the production of such armored vehicles.
The machine offered by the Canadian company has a classic layout for such a vehicle. In front of it is the engine compartment, protected by armor hood, and other volumes of the body given for the placement of people and goods. The volume of interior space allows you to transport up to 12 people, including the driver and commander.
According to the developer, the Spartan armored hull provides protection of the B6 level according to the European standard CEN 1063 and withstands the hit of bullets from the 7,62 XX51 mm NATO rifle cartridge. In addition, the armored vehicle has mine protection, corresponding to the 2 level of the NATO standard STANAG 4569 and allowing the crew to save from an explosion of mines weighing up to 6 kg.
The Streit Group Spartan armored vehicle is equipped with a Ford V8-6.7L hp diesel engine with a capacity of 300 hp. The engine is mated to a five-speed automatic transmission. Powertrain units are borrowed from the Ford 550 base chassis. The used power plant, according to the assurances of the authors of the project, should accelerate the armored car to the speed of 110 km / h (on the highway) and ensure the cruising range at the level of 800 km.
The Spartan armored car has a length of just over 6 m, the width of 2,43 m and the height of the roof of the 2,37 m. The curb weight of the vehicle reaches 7,87 t. At the same time, the armored car can carry up to 1100 kg of payload, including landing forces or any cargo.
The body of the armored car has a set of doors and hatches for embarkation and disembarkation or use weapons. The commander and driver, located in the front of the hull, must fall into place through the doors in the sides. In total, there are four doors on the sides, two rear doors lead to the landing / cargo compartment. Another door is provided in the hull stern sheet. There are three hatches in the roof, one in the middle and two in the aft part. The central hatch can be used to install turrets with weapons, combat modules, etc. equipment. As weapons can be used machine guns, including large-caliber, or automatic grenade launchers.
Last summer, it became known that Spartan armored vehicles ordered by Ukraine would be assembled at its production sites. The Kremenchug Automobile Plant (KrAZ) was chosen as the basis for the release of this technology. In this regard, new armored vehicles often appear under the name KrAZ Spartan. It should be noted that it is known that Ukrainian specialists take minimal part in the project of building machinery. KrAZ accounts for no more than 10-15% of all work, since this plant carries out only the final assembly of products from finished units. It cannot be ruled out that the situation will change in the future, but at the moment Ukraine is getting ready-made assembly kits and is not producing components on its own.
To date, the cooperation of the Canadian and Ukrainian enterprises has led to the emergence of a certain number of armored vehicles of the new model, which, according to available data, are already used in the so-called. anti-terrorist operation. A few days ago, the first details of the operation of new type of armored vehicles became known. As it turned out, the Spartans delivered to the troops, despite all the promises, have a lot of flaws that require prompt correction.
On January 14, Ukrainian activist Alexei Mochanov, who maintains contact with the units operating KrAZ Spartan armored cars, published a list of 17 items describing the existing problems of the new technology. Some flaws are present only in single armored vehicles, and others (such an overwhelming majority) apply to all 15 transmitted vehicles.
The "isolated cases" were the following problems. The 5 armored vehicles didn’t withstand the operational loads, due to which the suspension brackets of the anti-roll bars were broken. In one car, the winch could not stand the load and broke. Another armored car, unlike the others, for some reason did not receive protective bars on the windows.
The remaining claims are for the entire batch of 15 delivered armored vehicles. All cars are leaking oil from the shock absorbers and there is no space for a spare wheel. There is a drawback in the form of inability to turn on the front axle from the cab: to use all-wheel drive, you must leave the car and turn it on manually. Claims cause complexity of operation and maintenance. Thus, the capabilities of the army supply do not allow supplying fuel of the required quality, as a result of which the engine malfunction indicator is activated for 60% armored cars. In addition, maintenance of KrAZ Spartan machines requires a number of specific equipment and computer diagnostics, which makes it impossible to carry out work outside the specially equipped service stations.
There are problems with the equipment during operation. When driving over rough terrain, strong strokes are transmitted to the steering column. The electronic speedometer shows the speed in the metric system (km / h), but the mileage is calculated in miles. Finally, the armored vehicles are missing radio stations.
There are serious problems with the protection and armament of armored vehicles. Frontal armor is recognized as insufficient, because of which, at the first hit of a fragment or a bullet, a car can fail. The windshield does not withstand the second shot of small arms. When firing from a machine gun mounted on the upper hatch, sleeves on the roof and windshield roll under the hood, which can lead to engine breakdown. The design of the turret makes it impossible to shoot in motion. The machine gunner’s defense was deemed insufficient. In addition, in order to replace the box with the shooters, the shooter must be significantly protruded due to the existing shields.
Naturally, in the presence of such design flaws, new KrAZ Spartan armored cars cannot effectively carry out the assigned combat missions. There is an urgent need to take action, as A. Mochanov writes about. In his opinion, it is necessary to correct the deficiencies, and then re-test in the same conditions.
What will happen next - is not entirely clear. Perhaps the new series of armored vehicles "Spartan" will receive a number of innovations aimed at correcting the identified deficiencies. Nevertheless, other scenarios are possible, including negative ones for the fighters, who will have to use this technique. While ordered 21 armored car of the new model. It is possible that this order will be the last, and the shortcomings will have to be corrected by the direct operators in the person of the army or the National Guard.
A large number of identified deficiencies raises relevant questions. First of all, it is surprising that, in general, an interesting and modern armored car, as followed from the promotional materials, turned out to be “raw” and requiring further refinement. Problems could be attributed to poor-quality assembly, carried out in Kremenchug. However, a large number of shortcomings are associated with errors made during the design and production of assembly kits.
According to the authors of the well-known blog BMPD, the cause of all the problems found is the lack of developer competence. The Streit Group company was previously engaged in the manufacture of protected cars for various commercial structures and private customers. At the same time, the company had completely no experience in creating full-fledged military armored vehicles. In addition, the new armored cars Spartan and Cougar, developed by the company in recent years, have not been fully tested for several years, with the help of which modern armored vehicles are tested.
Armored cars with a mass of "innate" flaws, developed by a company without experience, were quickly purchased by the Ukrainian military without proper verification, refinement and other measures, without which adoption of new equipment is unthinkable. As a result - the army received almost unsuitable for the full operation of armored vehicles. Time will tell how the operation of such equipment will end. However, we can already assume that “raw” machines will become an additional factor increasing the loss of equipment and personnel. As for the initiators of a dubious deal, they are likely, as before, to stand aside and are unlikely to be held accountable for their actions.
On the materials of the sites:
http://autokraz.com.ua/
http://armyrecognition.com/
http://military-today.com/
http://korrespondent.net/
http://mil.gov.ua/
http://bmpd.livejournal.com/
The Spartan armored car (“Spartan”) was developed by the Canadian company Streit Group and first presented to the public in 2013. The aim of the project was to create a multipurpose armored car designed for delivery to third countries. To date, the Canadian armored vehicles have been purchased by new Libyan authorities and the armed forces of Nigeria. More recently, the Streit Group has made a lucrative offer to all potential customers of its armored vehicles: if necessary, the production of Spartan armored vehicles can be carried out at the enterprises of the client country.
Last summer, it became known that the Ukrainian army, in need of a large number of modern armored vehicles, is showing its interest in Spartan armored cars. Already 24 August such equipment took part in the parade dedicated to the Independence Day of Ukraine. At the same time, the transfer of vehicles to the troops was noticeably delayed.
Spartan armored car is a light armored vehicle based on a commercial chassis. The basis for this Canadian car was the Ford 550, which affected a number of its characteristics. The project involves the installation of the original armored hull on a borrowed chassis, which should simplify and cheapen the production of such armored vehicles.
The machine offered by the Canadian company has a classic layout for such a vehicle. In front of it is the engine compartment, protected by armor hood, and other volumes of the body given for the placement of people and goods. The volume of interior space allows you to transport up to 12 people, including the driver and commander.
According to the developer, the Spartan armored hull provides protection of the B6 level according to the European standard CEN 1063 and withstands the hit of bullets from the 7,62 XX51 mm NATO rifle cartridge. In addition, the armored vehicle has mine protection, corresponding to the 2 level of the NATO standard STANAG 4569 and allowing the crew to save from an explosion of mines weighing up to 6 kg.
The Streit Group Spartan armored vehicle is equipped with a Ford V8-6.7L hp diesel engine with a capacity of 300 hp. The engine is mated to a five-speed automatic transmission. Powertrain units are borrowed from the Ford 550 base chassis. The used power plant, according to the assurances of the authors of the project, should accelerate the armored car to the speed of 110 km / h (on the highway) and ensure the cruising range at the level of 800 km.
The Spartan armored car has a length of just over 6 m, the width of 2,43 m and the height of the roof of the 2,37 m. The curb weight of the vehicle reaches 7,87 t. At the same time, the armored car can carry up to 1100 kg of payload, including landing forces or any cargo.
The body of the armored car has a set of doors and hatches for embarkation and disembarkation or use weapons. The commander and driver, located in the front of the hull, must fall into place through the doors in the sides. In total, there are four doors on the sides, two rear doors lead to the landing / cargo compartment. Another door is provided in the hull stern sheet. There are three hatches in the roof, one in the middle and two in the aft part. The central hatch can be used to install turrets with weapons, combat modules, etc. equipment. As weapons can be used machine guns, including large-caliber, or automatic grenade launchers.
Last summer, it became known that Spartan armored vehicles ordered by Ukraine would be assembled at its production sites. The Kremenchug Automobile Plant (KrAZ) was chosen as the basis for the release of this technology. In this regard, new armored vehicles often appear under the name KrAZ Spartan. It should be noted that it is known that Ukrainian specialists take minimal part in the project of building machinery. KrAZ accounts for no more than 10-15% of all work, since this plant carries out only the final assembly of products from finished units. It cannot be ruled out that the situation will change in the future, but at the moment Ukraine is getting ready-made assembly kits and is not producing components on its own.
To date, the cooperation of the Canadian and Ukrainian enterprises has led to the emergence of a certain number of armored vehicles of the new model, which, according to available data, are already used in the so-called. anti-terrorist operation. A few days ago, the first details of the operation of new type of armored vehicles became known. As it turned out, the Spartans delivered to the troops, despite all the promises, have a lot of flaws that require prompt correction.
On January 14, Ukrainian activist Alexei Mochanov, who maintains contact with the units operating KrAZ Spartan armored cars, published a list of 17 items describing the existing problems of the new technology. Some flaws are present only in single armored vehicles, and others (such an overwhelming majority) apply to all 15 transmitted vehicles.
The "isolated cases" were the following problems. The 5 armored vehicles didn’t withstand the operational loads, due to which the suspension brackets of the anti-roll bars were broken. In one car, the winch could not stand the load and broke. Another armored car, unlike the others, for some reason did not receive protective bars on the windows.
The remaining claims are for the entire batch of 15 delivered armored vehicles. All cars are leaking oil from the shock absorbers and there is no space for a spare wheel. There is a drawback in the form of inability to turn on the front axle from the cab: to use all-wheel drive, you must leave the car and turn it on manually. Claims cause complexity of operation and maintenance. Thus, the capabilities of the army supply do not allow supplying fuel of the required quality, as a result of which the engine malfunction indicator is activated for 60% armored cars. In addition, maintenance of KrAZ Spartan machines requires a number of specific equipment and computer diagnostics, which makes it impossible to carry out work outside the specially equipped service stations.
There are problems with the equipment during operation. When driving over rough terrain, strong strokes are transmitted to the steering column. The electronic speedometer shows the speed in the metric system (km / h), but the mileage is calculated in miles. Finally, the armored vehicles are missing radio stations.
There are serious problems with the protection and armament of armored vehicles. Frontal armor is recognized as insufficient, because of which, at the first hit of a fragment or a bullet, a car can fail. The windshield does not withstand the second shot of small arms. When firing from a machine gun mounted on the upper hatch, sleeves on the roof and windshield roll under the hood, which can lead to engine breakdown. The design of the turret makes it impossible to shoot in motion. The machine gunner’s defense was deemed insufficient. In addition, in order to replace the box with the shooters, the shooter must be significantly protruded due to the existing shields.
Naturally, in the presence of such design flaws, new KrAZ Spartan armored cars cannot effectively carry out the assigned combat missions. There is an urgent need to take action, as A. Mochanov writes about. In his opinion, it is necessary to correct the deficiencies, and then re-test in the same conditions.
What will happen next - is not entirely clear. Perhaps the new series of armored vehicles "Spartan" will receive a number of innovations aimed at correcting the identified deficiencies. Nevertheless, other scenarios are possible, including negative ones for the fighters, who will have to use this technique. While ordered 21 armored car of the new model. It is possible that this order will be the last, and the shortcomings will have to be corrected by the direct operators in the person of the army or the National Guard.
A large number of identified deficiencies raises relevant questions. First of all, it is surprising that, in general, an interesting and modern armored car, as followed from the promotional materials, turned out to be “raw” and requiring further refinement. Problems could be attributed to poor-quality assembly, carried out in Kremenchug. However, a large number of shortcomings are associated with errors made during the design and production of assembly kits.
According to the authors of the well-known blog BMPD, the cause of all the problems found is the lack of developer competence. The Streit Group company was previously engaged in the manufacture of protected cars for various commercial structures and private customers. At the same time, the company had completely no experience in creating full-fledged military armored vehicles. In addition, the new armored cars Spartan and Cougar, developed by the company in recent years, have not been fully tested for several years, with the help of which modern armored vehicles are tested.
Armored cars with a mass of "innate" flaws, developed by a company without experience, were quickly purchased by the Ukrainian military without proper verification, refinement and other measures, without which adoption of new equipment is unthinkable. As a result - the army received almost unsuitable for the full operation of armored vehicles. Time will tell how the operation of such equipment will end. However, we can already assume that “raw” machines will become an additional factor increasing the loss of equipment and personnel. As for the initiators of a dubious deal, they are likely, as before, to stand aside and are unlikely to be held accountable for their actions.
On the materials of the sites:
http://autokraz.com.ua/
http://armyrecognition.com/
http://military-today.com/
http://korrespondent.net/
http://mil.gov.ua/
http://bmpd.livejournal.com/
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