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18 Aug 16. Russia develops BT-3F amphibious tracked APC for Naval Infantry. Russia’s Tractor Plants Concern is developing a new amphibious tracked armoured personnel carrier (APC) called the BT-3F, a defence industry source told IHS Jane’s. The new APC is intended for the use by naval infantry/marine units. “The Tractor Plants Concern is finishing the designing of the BT-3F APC in order to exhibit its demonstrator at the Army 2016 military-technical forum outside Moscow in September 2016. The vehicle may partially replace the BTR-80 APC of Russia’s Naval Infantry. We suppose that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will take a close look on the new vehicle at the forum,” the source said. He said that the BT-3F APC has a combat weight of 18.5 tonnes, a crew of three, and can carry 14 soldiers. “The vehicle is armoured at Level 4 STANAG 4569, providing all-round protection against 14.5×114 mm bullets fired from a KPVT heavy machine gun at a 200m distance. The hull of BT-3F has a length of 7,000 mm, a width of 3,300mm, and a height of 3,000mm. The APC is powered by a diesel engine [of 500hp] that provides a road speed of 70km/h, a swimming speed of 10km/h, and a power-to-weight ratio of 26.7hp/t. The BT-3F has an operational range of 600km,” the source added. The BT-3F is based on the chassis of the BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV). As a result “the serial production and massive deliveries of the BT-3F APCs to the Russian Armed Forces can be established in the shortest time possible, due to the high level of interchangeability between the carrier and the BMP-3 IFV,” the source claimed. The new vehicle is currently armed by a DPV-T remote controlled weapon station (RCWS) fitted with a 7.62x54mm PKTM Kalashnikov machine gun. However, “The APC can be integrated with all types of remote turrets developed by the Russian defence industry, including those armed with 12.7mm 6P49 Kord machine gun and 14.5 mm KPVT machine gun, as well as 30mm AG-17A and 40mm AG-40 automatic grenade launchers,” the source said. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
16 Aug 16. Procurement Contract On Acquisition of Boxer Infantry Fighting Vehicles Will Be Signed On August 22. On August 22 the contract on procurement of the Boxer infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) for the Lithuanian Armed Forces will be signed at the Ministry of National Defence. The decision to do so was taken on August 16 by the MoD Council on Defence Resources after hearing the report of the Infantry Fighting Vehicles Work Group on the negotiations and their results regarding acquisition of infantry fighting vehicles. On account of the security classification given to the contract, media opportunity will not be provided during the signing ceremony. Leadership of the Ministry of National Defence and the Lithuanian Armed Forces, and a representative from OCCAR (Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation) which mediates in Lithuania’s acquisition of the Boxer IFVs will meet with media representatives following the event. (Source: defence-aerospace.com/Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania)
16 Aug 16. Minotor-Service develops BTR-50PK upgrade. The Minotor-Service Enterprise of Belarus has developed an upgrade suite for the Russian BTR-50PK amphibious armoured personnel carrier (APC). Called the BTR-50PKM, Minotor-Service states that the package is also applicable to other members of the BTR-50 family of tracked armoured fighting vehicles (AFV) including the BTR-50P, BTR-50PU, the Czech OT-62 Topaz APC (which is their equivalent of the BTR-50PK) as well as the Russian PT-76 light amphibious tank. The upgrade enhances the BTR-50PK APC by reducing its fuel consumption, improving its maintainability and reliability, as well as extend its operational life. The company will replace the original Russian diesel powerpack, brakes, control linka