The need for creating
the buggy was demonstrated at the Center-2019 strategic command and staff
drills in September 2019, according to Airborne Force Commander Colonel-General
Andrei Serdyukov.
MOSCOW, July 31.
/TASS/. Russia is developing a new high-speed buggy for paratroopers based on
the latest family of Strela armored vehicles, Airborne Force Commander
Colonel-General Andrei Serdyukov said in an interview with the Defense
Ministry’s Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper on Friday.
"Work is
underway to create a Strela light buggy. The model’s mobility characteristics
are unique. Its maximum possible speed is 155 km/h. By now, a whole family of
such vehicles has been developed. They can be used for various missions,
including for the purpose of mounting armament," the commander said.
The need for creating
the buggy was demonstrated at the Center-2019 strategic command and staff
drills in September 2019. There are plans to equip Airborne Force units
"of a new light type" with Strela vehicles, he stressed.
The press office of
Russia’s Military Industrial Company told TASS on July 13 that the Company’s
specialists had developed a family of VPK-Strela new light armored vehicles
that could be transported by Mil Mi-8 helicopters on an external sling.
The baseline vehicle
weighs 4.7 tonnes and its armor provides the 2nd-degree ballistic protection
(it shields against bullets with a heat-strengthened core of 5.45x39mm
cartridges of the AK-74 assault rifle, bullets with the heat-strengthened core
of 7.62x39mm rounds of the AKM submachine-gun and bullets with the non-heat
strengthened core of 7.62x54mm ammunition fired from the Dragunov sniper
rifle).
The vehicle’s
anti-blast protection shields the crew inside it upon hitting mines or
explosives with a yield of up to 2 kilograms in TNT equivalent.
The Strela can
develop a speed of up to 155 km/h on the road and carry eight personnel. The
vehicle’s design is based on advanced assemblies, units and accessories planned
for their use in mass production in the domestic auto industry. The vehicle’s
components are 100% produced on the territory of Russia.
Source: ITAR-TASS
31-07-2020
