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Volat MZKT-690003 BTR-V2 8x8 ICV infantry combat vehicle

The “Minsk Wheeled Tractor Plant – (MZKT) specializes in the production of heavy trucks, prime movers and special wheeled chassis, many of which are marketed under the "Volat" brand. Volat is translated from Belarusian as Giant. The Volat V1, also designated MZKT V1 or MZKT-4190100, is a 4x4 Mine resistant ambush protected vehicle.

Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant presented new products 24 June 2021 at “Milex-2021” 10th International Exhibition of Arms and Military Machinery. Some of them had never been shown to the general public before. The most expected novelty of MILEX-2021 was a unique company’s development - the V-2 MZKT-690003 (8x8) infantry combat vehicle. The Republic of Belarus entered the club of states capable of independently producing armored personnel carriers - the designers of the Minsk Wheeled Tractor Plant developed a four-axle BTR-V2.

ICV VOLAT is designed for transporting personnel to the place of combat task performance, fire support in battle, protection against small arms and explosive devices, suppression of counter force, anti-tank weapons, light armored vehicles, tanks and low-speed enemy air targets. The infantry combat vehicle has an all-welded armored hull with a ramp in the rear part and is equipped with the following systems: Combat Management System, CTIS, Run-Flat, filtering unit, fire extinguishing system, smoke removal system, video surveillance system, self-recovery winch. The 20-ton armored infantry combat vehicle has Br4 ballistic protection, mine protection STANAG 4569 of level 2a/2b, it can reach 10 km/h in water and 110 km/h on land. Powerful 550 hp engine, automatic transmission, 520 mm ground clearance, forced differential lock and diesel generator are included.

The BTR-V2 combat vehicle has a gross weight of 19,900 kg (other sources report a gross weight 22,000 kg). The crew of the BTR-V2 consists of three people, located in the rear of the troop compartment are eight motorized riflemen. The stern has a ramp for easy embarkation and disembarkation of soldiers. The design of the armored body provides reliable protection against bullets and shrapnel, explosive devices. The BTR-V2 can also operate with confidence when encountering weapons of mass destruction.

The armored vehicles are capable of solving a wide range of combat missions - to carry out the operational transfer of personnel to the places of hostilities and conduct special operations, to provide fire support for personnel in battle, to protect them from small arms, damaging factors of explosive devices and weapons of mass destruction, to destroy openly located and sheltered enemy manpower, using anti-tank weapons against lightly armored vehicles and tanks, as well as low-speed enemy air targets.

In front, on the right, there is a 460-horsepower diesel in-line six-cylinder WP13.480A0 engine, working in conjunction with a MZKT hydromechanical six-speed gearbox manufactured in Belarus. It is also equipped with water jet propellers for crossing rivers and water barriers. The maximum speed on the highway is 110 km/h and up to 10 km/h - when overcoming water obstacles afloat.

The armored personnel carrier is armed with a 30-mm 2A42 automatic cannon stabilized in two planes, a coaxial 7.62-mm PKT machine gun. To combat tanks, there is an ATGM installation. At the same time, provision is made for the installation of an uninhabited combat module, and a launcher for anti-tank guided missiles. For example, Display Design Bureau will present at MILEX-2021 such a development called ADUNOK-BM-30.

According to the State Military-Industrial Committee of the Republic of Belarus, the novelty will be presented for the first time at the 10th International Exhibition of Arms and Military Equipment MILEX-2021. It is expected that the new armored personnel carrier in the future will be able to replace the wheeled and tracked combat vehicles of previous generations. The novelty in the future can replace the BMP 1, BMP 2, BTR 70 and BTR 80, which are in service with the Belarusian army. The product is a universal platform for the creation of an armored personnel carrier for any purpose and provides for both the installation of an uninhabited module on it and weapons of various types,

Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko said: “An armored personnel carrier is one of the means of mobility for ground troops. Until today we've been either upgrading the armored personnel carriers BTR-70 that we'd inherited from the Soviet Union or buying BTRs of Russian make. But certainly it would be strange not to make an armored wheeled personnel carrier of our own considering the country's well-developed mechanical engineering industry. This is why such a task was outlined and Belarusian mechanical engineers, in particular, MZKT, accomplished it.”

In his words, the external parameters and technical parameters of the Belarusian BTR match those of modern vehicles. “It is now necessary to polish all the quirks. Trials will begin right after the expo. The army is going to test the vehicle's operation within and beyond designed parameters. We are intent on making this vehicle the main means of mobility for the Belarusian Armed Forces,” Roman Golovchenko noted.