DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Italian Combat Vehicle In New Fight With Russian Tigr

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Italian Combat Vehicle In New Fight With Russian Tigr

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Ria Novosti

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 31, 2013: A controversial contract for the delivery of Italian light multirole vehicles (LMV) to Russia appears to have survived the recent reshuffle of the Russian Defense Ministry's leadership that saw the dismissal of Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and his arms procurement chief Alexander Sukhorukov.

But future deliveries of the Lynx may depend on new trials to be held within months as newly-appointed Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his team want to eliminate all controversy around the contract.

Serdyukov and Sukhorukov actively lobbied for the Iveco LMV M65 Lynx, which was picked over the locally produced GAZ-2330 Tigr armored vehicle in a rare departure from the military's principle of "buying domestic."

Tigr is a high-mobility multirole military vehicle manufactured by Russia’s Military-Industrial Corporation (MIC), a GAZ Group division, at the Arzamas machine-manufacturing plant.

The decision to buy Lynx has been widely publicized in Russia, after the Italian vehicle proved its superb armor protection during NATO operations in Iraq and Afghanistan but Tigr, which the maker claims is at least 70 percent cheaper, showed superior off-road performance at the Russian comparative trials in 2010 and is considered by Russian experts to be better suited to the needs of the Russian army.

© RIA Novosti.

The LMV M65 Lynx Armored Car

Russian critics have also argued the initial agreement on the purchase of 60 vehicles, signed in 2011, did not stipulate post-assembly servicing, the supply of spare parts and training of Russian personnel by Italian experts.

Russia is planning to resolve these issues through additional negotiations in the near future, according to Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov, who replaced Sukhorukov in the wake of the reshuffle in November 2012.

Russia has a solid contract for the delivery of 358 Iveco LMVs, dubbed Rys in Russian, and the ministry has no intention of scrapping this contract, Borisov said in December last year.

The first 57 vehicles were assembled last year with 10 percent local content at a plant in Voronezh. The remaining vehicles will be assembled in 2013 at a new KAMAZ plant in Tatarstan, which has the capacity to assemble up to 500 Iveco LMVs per year with 50-80 percent local content, according to KAMAZ officials.

Meanwhile, the fate of a possible huge follow-on order for LMVs in Russia has not yet been sealed.

As part of the 2011-2020 state arms procurement program, the Defense Ministry plans to buy 1,775 LMVs by 2015 for $1 billion, and they may not all be Iveco models.

In December, Shoigu ordered new comparative tests of the Rys and the improved Tigr-M, which features a new Russian-made YaMZ-534 diesel engine, improved armor, and protection against nuclear, biological and chemical threats.

The trials, to be held in the first quarter of 2013, will focus on testing the vehicles' armor, MIC spokesman Sergei Suvorov confirmed in an interview with RIA Novosti on Monday.

“Despite the claims of superb protection [by NATO standards], the Iveco vehicle’s armor has never been tested in Russia,” Suvorov said.

He also claimed Tigr-M provides adequate armor protection which covers a larger area of the vehicle interior than the Italian vehicle.

The Iveco and Tigr vehicles employ a different design philosophy in the way they use armor to protect their crews. The Russian vehicle is equipped with a solid armored shell, while the Italian model uses armor panels attached to the vehicle's frame.

The interior of the vehicles also differ significantly. The Iveco interior has several partitions, with the driver and commander separated from the passengers. In contrast, the Tigr is not internally partitioned, and any passenger can take the wheel without exiting the vehicle - an obvious safety feature in battle.

The Italian vehicle is also smaller and can seat just five people, including the driver, whereas the Tigr seats nine.

Italy, a NATO member, has produced Lynx LMVs for a number of European countries, including Austria, Belgium, Britain, Norway and Spain, at a unit cost of about $300,000.

Suvorov refused to comment on the future of the Iveco contract in Russia, saying a decision will be made by Russia’s top military leadership regardless of the outcome of the new tests.

“Our concern is to provide a reliable and efficient combat vehicle for the Russian military, which we did,” he said. “The rest is up to the military commanders.”

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Ria Novosti
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DTN News: Slovak Army Orders 10 Iveco-Built LMVs

DTN News: Slovak Army Orders 10 Iveco-Built LMVs *Sources: DTN News / Iveco

(NSI News Source Info) BRATISLAVA, Slovakia - June 29, 2009: Iveco Defence Vehicles announces that on June 23, 2009 the Slovak Army and Iveco signed a contract for a batch of 10 Light Multirole Vehicles to be delivered by the end of the year. The LMV is a purpose built military vehicle which nonetheless benefits from the use of many commercial components. Rugged and highly mobile, it is designed as a chassis cab which permits the installation of many different modules including a cargo platform, an ambulance and a weapon carrier.Anti-mine protection has also been given a high priority, with the over-riding aim being to ensure the survival of the crew. Since LMV’s first deployment to Afghanistan, IVECO’s integrated solution has ensured the survival of all of its occupants. whenever the vehicle has been attacked.The LMV was selected for front line duties by the following armies: Italy (1260 units), UK (401 units), Spain (120 units), Norway (60 units), Belgium (440 units), Croatia (10 units), the Czech Republic (21 units) and, most recently, Austria (150 units). Flavio Marchesoni, Sales & Marketing Director of Iveco Defence Vehicles said: “This contract win builds on the success of the LMV which has been selected for front line duties by 9 armies to date”. Designed to incorporate high tactical mobility with high maximum road speed and optimal off-road and cross-country performance, the LMV has high protection levels against anti tank and anti personnel mines with an emphasis on crew protection rather than vehicle integrity. High reliability, ease of maintenance and low through life costs were key considerations during the design of LMV. Built in and external diagnostics allow timely identification of impending malfunctions, allowing preventive maintenance to be undertaken, whilst the facility to collect functional data allows effective whole fleet management. The use of COTS (Commercial off the Shelf) main assemblies such as the gearbox and engine ensures that performance and reliability have been proven over many millions of road miles in demanding environmental conditions. This provides an outstanding level of reliability and consequently excellent fleet availability. The LMV is suitable for numerous weapon system installations such as 7,62mm or 12.7mm remote weapon stations as well as 40mm grenade launcher and is therefore well adapted to any peacekeeping and patrol mission. The provision of anti-mine protection has also been given a high priority, with the over-riding aim being to ensure the survival of the crew. To this end, a normal control cab has been used and the results of the latest research into mine protection has been incorporated, including a vee-shaped vehicle bottom. This can be up-armoured as required to meet the appropriate level of threat. The overall structure of the vehicle has been designed in accordance with the ‘crashworthiness’ concept. The design of the vehicle itself and the materials which have been used in its construction are specifically designed to manage and absorb the blast energy generated by a mine detonation. Since the beginning of operations in Afghanistan, the high protection of the LMV has proved its worth in saving the life of the crew in many occasions.