State tests of the newest armored car "Athlete" will begin next spring, said the general director of the "Military-Industrial Company" ("VPK" LLC) Alexander Krasovitsky.

According to him, testing will last until the end of the summer of 2021.

“As of today,“ Athlete ”has completely passed the preliminary tests and is entering the state stage.

They will begin in the spring of 2021 and will last until the end of the summer of the same year, ”TASS quoted Krasovitsky as saying.

The development of the "Athlete" began in 2017 on the basis of the "Tiger" armored car.

Alexander Krasovitsky spoke about this at the Army-2017 forum, specifying that over the ten years of the Tiger's existence, about 700 changes were made to its design.

  • General Director of the Military-Industrial Company (VPK LLC) Alexander Krasovitsky

  • © Press Service "VPK"

“Now we understand that it is necessary to increase mine and ballistic resistance,” said Krasovitsky at the time.

Fast and secure

Work on the creation of the "Athlete" is being ordered by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The designers placed the main emphasis on increasing the car's protection from mines, and as a result they managed to bring this figure to 2 kg in TNT equivalent.

For comparison: foreign counterparts have mine protection from 600 g to 1 kg in TNT equivalent.

The Russian armored car "Tiger" has mine protection at a level of 600 grams in TNT equivalent.

Also, the tasks of the developers included increasing the ballistic protection of new cars in comparison with the "Tigers" (the ability to absorb and dissipate the energy of a ballistic impact) and carrying capacity while maintaining maneuverability and maneuverability.

  • Armored car "Tiger" in Sevastopol at the rehearsal of the parade in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War

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  • © Konstantin Mikhalchevsky

The designers managed to achieve their goals.

According to the manufacturer, in terms of the level of security, the new armored car surpasses its predecessor by about three times.

At the same time, we are not talking about taking the Tigers out of service and replacing them with Athletes.

The military will use the new vehicles for special tasks.

The new armored car was first presented to the general public at the Army-2019 International Military-Technical Forum.

Weight of the "Athlete" is about 9 tons (against 7.8 tons for the "Tiger"), carrying capacity - 1.6 tons (against 1.2 tons).

Despite its impressive mass, the car is capable of accelerating on the highway to 120 km / h, while the maximum speed of the lighter "Tiger" is about 110 km / h.

The "Athlete" is equipped with a YaMZ-5347-24 engine with a capacity of 240 hp.

with., while the "Tiger" is equipped with a 215-strong YaMZ-5347-10.

Engines of this line were developed at the Yaroslavl Motors enterprise specifically for the needs of the Russian army.

So, YaMZ-5347-10 was first installed on the "Tiger" in 2011.

Practical tests of the power unit took place after the delivery of these machines into service.

According to the developers, the new engine even surpassed the American Cummins 205 engine, which the Tiger was equipped with before.

All four wheels of the Athlete are leading.

The car is capable not only of transporting personnel and military cargo, but can also be used for towing trailers, mounting weapons, military and special equipment.

Depending on the modification, the "Athlete" armored car can carry from two to eight fully equipped soldiers.

The “Athlete” is equipped with air conditioning and anti-traumatic seats for all crew members as standard.

These seats are also called "protected", they are designed to protect the crew from the shock wave after the detonation of explosives next to or under the car.

For this, seats of this type are often attached not to the bottom of the car, but to the sides.

They are also equipped with a reinforced fixation system.

"The machine has confirmed the characteristics"

Preliminary tests of the Athlete armored vehicles began in August 2019.

As the head of the "VPK" LLC told reporters at the time, the cars had to cover thousands of kilometers off-road and on the highway, including those with a trailer weighing 2.5 tons. As part of testing, the cars also had to wade through water obstacles.

In addition, the "Athlete" was tested in extreme climatic conditions at temperatures ranging from -50 to +50 ° C.

We also checked the protection of vehicles from shelling and explosions.

  • Russian BMP in Syria

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  • © Delil Souleiman

In February 2020, the development company reported that the "Athlete" had successfully passed preliminary tests for detonation and shelling, as well as a napalm test for fire resistance.

"Everything that we planned - the whole machine withstood and confirmed the characteristics specified in the technical specifications", - quoted TASS as a message from "VPK" LLC.

The company also clarified that after revision according to the proposals of the Ministry of Defense, the car will go for state tests.

Their start was scheduled for May 2020, and in 2021 it was supposed to start the serial production of "Athletes".

However, these terms have shifted.

Meanwhile, experts call this a regular situation.

As the editor-in-chief of the magazine Arsenal of the Fatherland, Viktor Murakhovsky, noted in an interview with RT, the timing of state tests could have changed due to the tactical and technical assignment of the Ministry of Defense.

Military expert, retired colonel Viktor Litovkin believes that the coronavirus pandemic also played a role.

“Most likely, it led to production delays.

Many enterprises reduced their production staff, so not all the necessary components were received.

In principle, there is nothing critical about this, the car is already being tested anyway, "the expert noted in a commentary on RT.

Personnel protection

As analysts say, the key feature of the new armored car will be its high protection against mines and other warheads.

This was the most important advantage of "Athlete" over "Tiger".

As Viktor Litovkin explained, the Tiger is designed to carry a small detachment of two to six people.

Also, this armored car can be equipped with various warheads, including machine guns, grenade launchers, and small arms.

“At the same time, the Athlete is more intended for the transportation of personnel.

The new vehicle has increased carrying capacity, increased mine resistance, and has a more powerful engine.

But most importantly, the "Athlete" has higher protective qualities, it is a mine-resistant machine, which is extremely important when transporting personnel, "Litovkin added.

For example, during the anti-terrorist operation in Syria, militants tried to use explosive devices, planting them on the route of military columns.

In August 2020, as a result of such an explosion, a major general of the Russian Armed Forces was killed, and two more servicemen were injured.

  • Armored car "Athlete"

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  • © Military Industrial Company LLC

As military expert Alexei Leonkov noted in an interview with RT, the new armored car is equipped with splinterproof, bulletproof armor, mine protection, and is also structurally different from the "Tiger".

“This car is a versatile platform for various weapons, with increased cross-country ability.

Many new technological solutions are embodied in the "Athlete", including heavy-duty bulletproof glasses with special openings for firing.

The importance of such vehicles for the army is difficult to exaggerate, because they are used by different types of troops.

Such equipment has a multifaceted purpose, but its main task is the safety of personnel, "Leonkov summed up.