A prototype unit of the Otaman-3, a new amphibious armored personnel carrier, was for the first time presented in public at the Weapons and Security exhibition, which kick-started in Kyiv on Oct. 8.
The vehicle was designed by Kyiv-based private company Practika in a bid to propose a solution replacing old Soviet BTR and BRDM family carriers with a highly protected, universal, and heavily armed vehicle fit for modern warfare, specifically for non-linear and asymmetric combat.
According to developers, the Otaman (a Cossack chieftain) is an armored carrier optimal for marine combat formations. It was designed with a focus on ensuring the personnel’s best possible survivability and with due consideration to recommendations from Ukrainian combat veterans of the Donbas war.
“The most important thing nowadays is not only to make it to a battlefield,” the company’s director-general Oleh Vysotskiy said during the presentation. “But also get back alive. Increasing the chances of soldiers to survive and get back alive was our priority.”
In tune with modern tendencies, the Otaman-3 vehicle was designed to have its engine section in the forward body, while its landing compartment is placed in the afterbody. This is particularly believed to be ensuring additional robustness as personnel exits the vehicle on the battlefield.
The Practika arms manufacturing company envoys demonstrate an augmented reality helmet at the Weapons and Security 2019 exhibition in Kyiv on Oct. 8, 2019. (Volodymyr Petrov)
According to developers, the vehicle’s armor also ensures enhanced protection.
According to designers, the armor’s basic version has the Level 2 protection under NATO’s STANAG 4569 standard, therefore able to withstand armor-piercing 7.62×39 millimeter rounds at a distance of 30 meters and 155-millimeter highly explosive artillery shells fragments at a distance of 80 meters.
The version bearing additional ceramic components increases the protection to STANAG 4569 Level 4, therefore ensuring safety from 14.5×114 millimeter armor-piercing, incendiary, full metal jacket rounds and 155-millimeter shell fragments at 30 meters.
Besides, the developers took note of deadly incidents with Ukrainian light armored vehicles trapping landmines in the war zone of Donbas, which has resulted in numerous casualties.
The Otaman-3 vehicle reportedly has enhanced underbelly landmine protection corresponding STANAG 4569 Level 3a/3b protection therefore able to survive a landmine blast with the yield of 8 kilograms in explosive mass from beneath any wheel or track location, or from underneath the vehicle’s bottom center.
In general, the 23-ton 6×6 vehicle powered by 558-horsepower Deutz engine can carry up 10 troops. According to designers, Otaman-3’s framework is strong enough to carry a heavy weapon station on it. Therefore, such a feature paves the war for the vehicles at least 6 specialized modifications, such as basic armored personnel carrier, supporting fire vehicle, self-propelled artillery weapon, mortar vehicle, mobile command and control unit, and recovery-vehicle.
According to the Weapons and Security 2019 organizers, as many as 372 participants from 16 nations participated in this year’s biggest arms exhibition in Ukraine.
Among novelties presented for the first time at the exhibition are also the RK-360MC Neptune cruise missile systems, as well as Bayraktar unmanned strike drone systems produced by Ukraine and Turkey since recently as part of a joint venture.
