Lazanski 8X8 wheeled armored vehicle
In September 2021, news about Serbia's new wheeled infantry fighting vehicle project appeared on the Internet, sparking heated discussions and a lot of imagination. Initially, people generally believed that "Lazanski" was an 8X8 wheeled armored vehicle equipped with 30mm cannons, and some even regarded Turkey's 8X8 wheeled armored vehicle as "Lazanski". Finally, at the Partner 2021 weapons exhibition held from October 11th to 14th, "Lazansky" was unveiled-a huge 8X8 wheeled turret equipped with a Russian AU-220M "Baikal" unmanned turret. The armored vehicle suddenly became the star of the weapon show.
The "Lazanski" 8x8 wheeled armored vehicle is named after the late Serbian journalist, military analyst, politician, and Serbian ambassador to the Russian Federation Miroslav Lazanski (1950.9.18-2021.8.3). Therefore, at the unveiling ceremony of the armored vehicle, Lazanski's wife Tamara Lazanski and son attended the unveiling ceremony together with Serbian President Vucic. At the same time, a nameplate with Miroslav Lazansky's signature was hung on the armor.
Serbia's Foreign Ministry on 04 August 2021 announced the sudden death of Belgrade's ambassador to Russia, 71-year-old former military analyst and journalist Miroslav Lazanski. It said only that he had "passed away suddenly," but Serbian media cited officials as blaming his death on a heart attack at his home in Belgrade. "His dedication, commitment, and devotion as the ambassador of our country will be remembered, as will his numerous activities aimed at further improving the cooperation and friendship between Serbia and Russia," the ministry said in a statement.
Lazanski was appointed as Belgrade's top envoy to Russia in July 2019. He was a longtime journalist for the prominent Serbian daily Politika and a military analyst who had reported from conflict zones in Iran and Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Africa, and the Middle East. Lazanski had also reported during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s from what are now Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, and Kosovo, and from Ukraine's Crimea, which Russia invaded and annexed in 2014.
In a July 2020 report on "Russian interference" in North Macedonia, Bellingcat researchers linked Lazanski to a Moscow effort to "create a strip of militarily neutral countries" in the Balkans. Bellingcat said that Russian and Serbian intelligence officers "formed a connection" with Lazanski and asserted that "Macedonian counterintelligence also implicated Lazanski as one of the main pro-Kremlin propagandists in the country."
The "Lazanski" wheeled infantry fighting vehicle was developed by Jugoimport SDPR. The R&D team has the R&D experience of the "Lazar" series and the "MILOS" armored vehicle. The research goal is to create a more powerful wheeled armored vehicle that can surpass its predecessors. This can be seen from the indicators of the exhibition board. According to different configurations, the vehicle weighs 26-36 tons, the vehicle length is 8 meters, the vehicle width is 3.2 meters, the vehicle height is 2.6 meters (to the roof), and the number of occupants + occupants is 3+10 people. The Lazar3 is 7.95 meters long, 2.95 meters wide, 2.32 meters high (to the roof), and has a maximum weight of 28 tons. The number of members + crew is 3+9. It can be seen from the comparison that "Lazanski" is much bigger than Lazar 3 which came out a few years ago.
The weaponry of "Lazansky" is undoubtedly the most eye-catching. It is equipped with the AU-220M unmanned turret of the Russian "Haiyan" Design Bureau, a powerful 57mm cannon with 80 rounds of ammunition, and the maximum range is up to 14.5 kilometers, a 6P7K 7.62mm machine gun with 500 rounds of ammunition, the pitch angle is -5° to 60°, the frontal defensive force of the turret reaches NATO STANAG4569 level 5, can resist 25mm machine guns, and the side reaches STANAG4569 level 3 which can resist 7.62X51mm bullets. The emergence of the "Baikal" unmanned turret undoubtedly made the Serbs excited-previously guessed that it was mostly a 30mm cannon. Members of the R&D team proudly declared that "Lazanski" was the first armored vehicle to be equipped with such a powerful 57mm cannon on a wheeled platform. Of course, this is not the case. The first is the "Snow Leopard" 8X8 wheeled armored vehicle cooperating with Kazakhstan, South Africa and Russia, and the "Lazanski" is only the second.
"Lazansky" has a strong defense. Its defense against landmines, IEDs and other explosives reaches NATO STANAG4569 standards 4a and 4b, and it can withstand 10kg explosives exploding on the wheels or under the vehicle. V-shaped bottom and cushion seats are equipped with anti-explosion equipment, and the seat layout has also changed from the back-to-back of the Lazar series sitting on the center line of the crew compartment to face-to-face. The body’s ballistic defense capability is claimed to have reached level 5 of the STANAG4569 standard. Bogdan Dimitrijevic, a member of the R&D team, said in an interview that it can withstand 25mm cannon shells, while the display panel claims to be able to withstand 30mm cannon shells. The index is not low. The side armor can withstand 7.62mm bullets. The information on the exhibition board shows that Serbian companies are developing additional armor modules to further enhance the vehicle's defenses.
On the other hand, the vehicle uses Caterpillar’s 711-horsepower diesel engine, while the Lazar3 armored vehicle from MRAP has a 500-horsepower engine. The increase in vehicle weight makes it inevitable to increase the engine power. Unfortunately, the specific driving performance indicators of the vehicle have not been made public, and the maneuverability of the "Lazanski" has not yet been known, and it may be announced in the future.
The "Lazanski" 8X8 wheeled infantry fighting vehicle is undoubtedly the product of Serbia's benchmarking and chasing world-class wheeled armored vehicles. Its powerful firepower and high defense indicators undoubtedly reflect Serbia's ambitions in military construction. Considering the military confrontation and conflict between Serbia and the factually divided Kosovo, the reorganization and reform of the Serbian army, and the history of the Balkan "powder keg", the actual crisis and demand may prompt "Lazanski" to enter the Serbian army soon. But with the price of 2.5 million, we will not see many of them in the Serbian Army. Lazar will also be good, with a machine gun and without ceramics.
Realistically, none of the key components on "Lazanski" are domestically produced. Engine, gearbox, dome,... Everything is assembled here. The intention was to position as a producer, and in fact an assembler, of products that combine Western and Eastern techniques.. The armor steel is bought from Slovenia, while the additional armor and seats are from Israel. The chassis is from Sisu, Finland. They also come with specially designed transmission parts from the Katsa company in Lazan. The main things are imported, but many parts, less sophisticated, are of Serbian production, which is quite normal for a country of Serbia's size. And hardly anyone expected this. For example. The stabilized remote turret 30 mm for the M80 is entirely a domestic product. It makes commercial sense, because it will be sold to "third" countries. Today in the world there are only a few manufacturers of engines, gearboxes and the like for special purpose vehicles and almost everyone buys from them. It is not worth investing money in the development of a domestic engine, gearbox, etc. for just 100 vehicles. It is cheaper to take a finished product and a serious matter. A vehicle with 100% domestic components requires building factories, get machines, train people and then slowly start developing domestic engines, gearboxes, etc. from zero. The question is how much it would cost us and whether it would be worth it. Serbia would test the entire body of the vehicle, the armor is a complete set from start to finish, Serbia's production therefore 70 percent of the weight of the vehicle. Also the engine, suspension system is installed in Serbia and fitted according to Serbia's vehicle and project.
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