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New Zealand Receives First 20 Pinzgauers New Zealand's Army has received first 20 Pinzgauer 718 6x6 light tactical vehicles out of the total of 321 to be delivered. The contract, which is worth $66.4 million, was awarded to the Land Rover company of Britain. The contract envisages delivery of vehicles in 13 versions, viz.: 122 command vehicles, 95 general purpose trucks, 68 armed transporters, 15 vehicles with armoured sides and 8 ambulances. 23 command vehicles and 37 transporters out of the above versions will be developed on the basis of a newly-developed armoured variant of the vehicle. The Pinzgauer Model 718 cross-country vehicles were developed by the Steyr-Daimler-Puch company of Austria more than 30 years ago by request of the Swiss Army. In 1987, they were upgraded. In particular, they were fitted with a 104 hp diesel engine with a maximum torque of 195 Nm. Trials of the Skif Completed in the Ukraine The government testing of the upgraded BTR-70 armoured personnel carrier, called Skif (Scythian), have been completed in the Ukraine. The upgraded armoured personnel carrier is fitted with a Ukrainian-produced UTD-20 engine rather than the original two ZMZ-4905 carburettor-type engines of Russian origin. Installation of the UTD-20 four-stroke six-cylinder V-type engine makes it possible to enhance the movility performance and to carry out the modernisation of the power pack of the BTR-70s in service with the Ukraine by efforts of the Ukrainian enterprises. The trials have showed clearly that the modernisation did result in a increase of the vehicle's efficiency. The fuel distance has increased by 25% due to a considerable enhancement of fuel efficiency with the fuel capacity remaining the same. The cross-country performance of the vehicle has also been improved due to the increase of engine's torque. The increase power-to-weight ratio improves the vehicle's agility as well as enabling it to be upgraded later on in the other areas. The Skif vehicle was developed and tested by the Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau of Ukraine. The upgraded vehicles are to be manufactured at the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence's Armour Repair Plant. The Russian Army to Receive New BMD-4s In accordance with the Decision taken by the Russian Federation's Government on 31 December 2004, the military units will be gradually equipped with BMD-4 airborne combat vehicles starting from the year 2005. The first ten vehicles are planned to be delivered in the first half of the year to the training military units, which will be the first to master the new vehicles. Later on, the BMD-4s will be delivered to combat military units. The BMD-4 will be used as a basic platform for development of a family of amphibious airborne combat vehicles that can be dropped from an aircraft with a parachute. As to its firepower, protection and mobility, the BMD-4 has no match in the world among the vehicles in the weight range of 12.5 to 18 tonnes. The BMD-4 is fitted with a turret armed with two guns ??“ 30 mm and 100 mm. The turret is similar in design to that of the BMP-3. When the vehicle is dropped from an aircraft with a parachute, the crew don't have to leave it. This considerably shortens into-the-action time once the vehicle has landed. Finland to Sell Soviet-made Tanks The Finnish Ministry of Defence intends to sell several hundreds of Soviet-produced tanks. According to the Satakunnan Kansa newspaper, the potential sale could include 200 T-54 and T-55 tanks as well as 160 T-72s which were phased out of service in 2004. At present, Finland searches potential buyers among the former allies of the ex-USSR, which still keep Soviet-made military vehicles in their inventory. According to ITAR-TASS, the possible purchase of the above tanks is reportedly considered by Vietnam. Uralvagonzavod to Supply Spares for Syrian Tanks During a visit of the Syrian President Bashar Asad to Russia in January 2005, the leaders of the two countries discussed the issues of military and technical cooperation between the two countries. The negotiations were attended by Nikolay Malykh, Director General of the Federal State-owned Unitary Enterprise URALVAGONZAVOD. He came to an agreement with the Syrian delegation about supply of spares for tanks in service with Syria. At present the Syrian Army is equipped with large quantities of Soviet-produced armoured vehicles, in particular, more than 2,000 T-55 MBTs, 1,000 T-62 MBTs and 1,500 T-72 MBTs. So, the above-mentioned agreement will be quite of use for the plant which is about to complete the supplies of T-90s to India. Nowadays the enterprise is experiencing a good financial situation. This enables it to re-equip itself. For example, on 28 January 2005 it carried out negotiations with the ALTA company of the Czech Republic which supplies up-to-date metal-cutting equipment to Uralvagonzavod. In 2004, 20 machine tools of Czech origin were installed at this Nizhny Tagil-located enterprise, with the same number of new machine tools of Czech origin being planned for installation this year. In February 2005, the contract of Nikolay Malykh with the Federal Industry Agency will be over. Most probably, the contract will be prolonged, in spite of the fact that Uralvagonzavod is going to be privatised quite soon. USA to Send Robot Soldiers to Iraq USA is planning to send in spring 2005 a first batch of 18 remore-controlled armed robots to participate in military operations in Iraq. The deployment of new robots in Iraq is planned for March and April. The SWORD-type robot soldiers are fitted with either M249 or M240 rifle that feature a high firing accuracy. Their ability to aim at targets and their battlefield awareness are provided by fitting them with four video cameras, a night vision device and some telescopic lenses. The robot is controlled by a purpose-trained soldier with the aid of a remote control device provided with a radio communications with the vehicle. The remote control device can be connected by means of optical fibre cable (in so doing, a better resistance to electrical interference is achieved). The control itself is quite simple, being carried out by means of a joy-stick. The storage batteries enable the robot to operate autonomously for 4 hours. In so doing, the robot can move at a maximum speed of 6.6 km/h, negotiate various obstacles, including obstructions and staircases, as well as transporting up to 90 kg of load. The SWORD features a high degree of survivability ??“ it is able to operate after being hit by small arms fire as well as being able to move under water. The own weight of the robot does not exceed 45 kg, and therefore it is easy to transport. The cost of one robot soldier is around $200,000. This is cheaper than the budget up-keeping costs of one human soldier. The robot was developed by Foster-Miller, Inc. on the basis of the TALON?„? robot which was produced for mine-clearing applications. C2 FAUST System Proved Successful during Trials in Kosovo and Bosnia Having been comprehensively trialled by the German Army units deployed in Kosovo (KFOR) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR), the FAUST command and control system (C2) is starting to enter service with Bundeswehr. The system is supplied by the European company EADS. The FAUST is a product of cooperation between this company and Bunderwehr. The purpose of this cooperation consisted in introduction of a battlefield management system as well as command and control system. More than 150 FAUST systems were trialled in the Balkans, all of them successful. The field trialls were carried out from October 2003 till January 2004. The armed forces of Great Britain, Canada and France received the first specimens of the FAUST command and control systems in Afghanistan early in 2003. The system proved to be rather efficient in three different theatres of military operations. A decision has already been taken that the FAUST system will become the basis for development of a future battlefield management system under the designation FuInfoSys for the German Army. Development of the new system is to be completed in 2006 at the latest. This C2 digital system will make it possible to monitor, in real time and with high accuracy, the position of all fighting vehicles in the battlefield and to provide this information to commanders and headquarters so that they could take relevant decisions. Germany Blocks the Sale of Dingo 2 Armoured Vehicles to Israel Early in February the German government blocked the signing of the contract for supply of Dingo 2 armoured vehicles from the USA to Israel. The move was caused by the apprehension that the vehicles can be used by the Israeli Army against the Palestinians. The Dingo 2 vehicles are assembled in the USA by Textron Systems Marine & Land Operations under licence received from the German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co.KG. According to the licence, the American company is not authorised to export the assembled vehicles without agreeing it upon with the German government. The German authorities stated that they had no principal objections against the supplies to be carried out by the Americans, and the only problem consisted in choosing the right time for that. The contract, which is worth $60,000,000, will enable Israel to replace its old armoured personnel carriers being used on the Palestinian territories, with 100 up-to-date Dingo 2 vehicles. As is emphasized by the Israeli Army, they are less heavy than the in-service M-119 armoured personnel carriers, but provide a better degree of protection of the crew and vehicle-borne troops. Mexico Buys Russian Lorries Mexico has bought a batch of Russian-made Ural lorries. The contract concluded between the Mexican Department of the Navy and the Russian Rosoboronexport State-owned Foreign Trade Company, envisages supply of 22 vehicles in 2005. The contract in question resulted from the fact that Mexico had already received vehicles produced by the Uralskiy Motor-car Plant and was satisfied with the results of its service. More than 50 6x6 Ural-series lorries are used in Mexico starting from June 2004. Experts from the UralAZ Motor-car Plant provide training for Mexican drivers, informing them about the peculiarities of operation and maintenance of the new vehicles. At the present time, the sides are considering the possibilities of establishing Ural-series vehicle assembly lines in Mexico, as not only the military, but also some civil establishments and private entrepreneurs seem to be interested in the vehicles. The Russian Army to Buy Infantry Fighting Vehicles The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation intends to place a order with Kurganmashzavod for new infantry fighting vehicles. It is envisaged that more than ten BMP-2s will be delivered in 2005. Besides, three BMP-3 will be purchased as an experiment. The vehicles of the kind are already in service with the Russian Army,as well as being purchased by a number of foreign customers who appreciated their capabilities. However, the BMP-3 procurement for the Russian Army has so far been restrained by the high cost of the vehicle (around $1,000,000). |
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February22, 2005 - Army Guide >> |
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