Turkish armored personnel carrier ARMA
ARMA 6х6
Modular wheeled tactical armored personnel carrier ARMA is designed and developed by the Turkish company Otokar. The 6x6 wheelchair vehicle platform was unveiled at Eurosatory 2010 in Paris in June 2010. Amphibious can carry a crew of 10 people, including the commander, driver and eight soldiers.
The armored personnel carrier has flexible mobility and provides a high level of mine and ballistic protection. The modular design allows the use of various configurations of weapons and equipment to meet modern combat requirements and other tactical tasks. It is expected that ARMA will be more cost-effective than its competitors, and possess superior technical and tactical abilities.
Otokar is a subsidiary of Turkey’s largest conglomerate Koç Group. The Otokar product range includes various types of armored and unarmored tactical vehicles. Most recently, the company acted as general contractor for the ALTAY project, the first national core tank Turkey
ARMA 6х6 was developed under the program of tactical wheeled armored special-purpose vehicles (Ozel Maksatli Taktik Tekerlekli Zirhli Arac, OMTTZA) for the Turkish ground forces. The development of an armored personnel carrier was launched in 2007 and was fully funded by Otokar. It competed with two other Pars armored personnel carriers from FNSS Defense Systems and Patria in the 6x6 variant from Anafarta from HEMA Endustris Anafarta.
The company took responsibility for the concept of design, qualification, process verification, detailed design, computer simulation and testing of a prototype vehicle. The prototype passed about 10.000 km and was tested on various landscapes. Currently ARMA is fully ready for mass production.
The first export order for ARMA at $ 10.6 million was placed in December 2010 of the year. In June 2011, Otokar received an additional export contract worth $ 63.2 million. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2012.
Design and protection
The ARMA 6x6 version is 6.428 m long, 2.708 m wide and 2.223 m high. The gross weight of the armored personnel carrier is 18.500 kg, and the payload capacity of the 4.500 kg. A spacious internal volume is created by placing the engine in front of the car. Such architecture achieves high ergonomics and efficiency of the internal volume.
ARMA provides high mine and ballistic protection thanks to its armored capsule. The hull is also fully protected from biological and chemical weaponsIt is equipped with special seats, which, along with the ground clearance in 425 mm, reduce the negative impact on the crew and troops from the explosion of mines. At the same time, exact data on its ballistic protection have not been published, but, as expected from amphibians, the reservation will not exceed level II of STANAG 4569 standard, and given the relatively high ground clearance, mine protection must reach level IIIB or even higher. The standard layout of the ARMA 6x6 includes air conditioning.
weaponry
ARMA is armed with a 12,7-mm machine gun mounted on a swivel mount. It can also be equipped with a wide range of weapons with manual and remote control.
Engine and mobility
The car is driven by a water cooled turbo diesel engine with an 450 horsepower capacity using F-34 or F-54 fuel. Able to reach speed in 105 km / h on the highway, power reserve 700 km. The transmission consists of an automatic transmission and a single-speed transfer case. ARMA is equipped with longitudinal and transverse differential locks, wheel reduction gears and independent hydropneumatic suspension, providing increased maneuverability and mobility on rough terrain, as well as a high level of safety and comfort for the crew. The 6х6 version has the specific power 24,3 hp / t, the version 8 x8 - 18.7 hp / t. The engine also powers the 3.3-kilowatt converter and two 125-Ah batteries, which are part of the 24-volt on-board DC electrical system.
The armored personnel carrier can move on flat tires and, as standard, is also equipped with a central tire inflation system. Depending on the terrain conditions, ARMA can switch between 6x6 and 6x4 modes. Thanks to the two front swivel axes, the turning radius is 7.8 meters. Overcoming entry and descent angles are 45 °, 60% ascent and 30% maximum lateral slope, height of overcoming vertical obstacle 60 cm, and width of the trench 1.2 meter. ARMA is able to float and maneuver on the water with two hydraulically actuated screws.
ARMA 8 × 8
Work on the 8 × 8 wheel formula version was started during the development of ARMA 6 × 6 in order to save on research and development costs. By the end of the 4-year development stage, Otokar released the 3 prototype of the new ARMA armored personnel carriers, and the company is reportedly ready to start mass production of all models from the end of the third quarter of the 2011.
ARMA 8 × 8 weighs 24 tons, has a front engine layout and a new hydropneumatic suspension, which allows it to carry 12 fully equipped soldiers to a distance of more than 750 kilometers over rough terrain. The car can be transported by air using C-130 or other similar cargo aircraft. BTR has full amphibious abilities. The driver of an armored personnel carrier can easily switch from a powerful 8 × 8 mode to a more economical 8 × 4 mode or from land to amphibious mode by pressing a button. Patency of the car remained at the level of version 6х6. ARMA 8 × 8 will be supplied with a wide range of standard and additional sensors, one of which is the 4 generation thermal imaging cameras with a circular field of view, as well as laser-guided warning receivers, digital radio communications, infrared lures, smoke screen launchers, WMD, additional composite armor, anti-cumulative mesh, winch and enhanced mine protection. At the request of the customer can be installed manually controlled or remotely weapons, namely: remotely controlled machine guns of various calibers, anti-tank rocket launchers, mortars, anti-aircraft and rocket launchers.
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