Three-Axle Full-Drive Military Armored Car Started State Trials

Rubric: Russia, Industry, Future

Russian company Astais has delivered 10 two-axle full-drive armored cars Patrol based on KamAZ-43501 to the Russian Guard and initiated the state trials of the three-axle 6X6 armored off-roader for the military, the company’s press service told Mil.Today.

According to Sergey Ivanov, a test engineer at Astais, the Patrol armored cars for the Russian military were made with due account for Defense Ministry’s technical specifications.

Patrol armored cars family by Astais

"The tests are going on routinely and will be completed by the yearend. In case of success, the car will be commissioned", Ivanov added.

The line of armored cars from Astais includes a protected medical vehicle, an off-roader for special units and an armored car for the military personnel. All of them are based on mass-produced KamAZ components. Engines and gearboxes are from KamAZ trucks, too. The KamAZ spokesman told Mil.Today that Astais was their official partner.

Designers say one of the key features of the Patrol family is perfect hardness. The vehicles have protection class 5, bulletproof, but it can be improved though. The Patrol cars withstand up to 2 kg explosion with the crew survived.
Patrol cars fall in between Tigers made by the Military Industrial Company and Typhoons jointly produced by Remdiesel and Ural, an insider in GAZ Group told Mil.Today. As for him, all three families were designed for particular tasks and do not compete each other.
Meanwhile, he gave a pretty high rating to Patrols’ hardness. "According to the tests, these vehicles are protected better than Tigers, but worse than Typhoons, and fall a bit short of Rys cars in terms of mine protection", commented the interviewee.

For the first time the line of Patrol armored cars was presented in 2014. The company designed the vehicles proactively.

JSC Astais was established in 2007 and employs about 500 persons. According to Kommersant Kartoteka information and analytical service, the company’s turnover amounted to 1.6 bln roubles in 2015.