I missed this, so maybe you did? rostec.ru/news/rostekh-v… According to Rostec, a revised version of the Sprut-SDM1 has been delivered to the Russian MoD for trials, after which the organisation hopes the vehicle will be approved for production.
Tests will include high-altitude and maritime environments, as well as temp ranges of -40 TO +40C. I think the key element of these (and BMD-4s in general) is the mobility. They can appear almost anywhere, and the running gear configuration gives it a low track pressure.
Add to that they are amphibious up to sea state 3 (depending on the scale this could be waves <2 m in height), air deployable by parachute (with some loonies inside it), and a 125 mm gun for direct fire. The thin armour is likely a reflection of its role.
Imagine, for example, this vehicle and a VDV formation careering around a rear echelon area? The logistics guys would need 14.5 mm HMG, RPG/ATGMs or a cannon to stop it - and the skills/courage to do so.
Few things are that clear cut, of course, war is messy and confused at the best of times. But it helps to think of usage cases for vehicles, rather than its potential to out-do the equivalent vehicle used by the enemy.
To add to this, maybe don't get super excited about this announcement - it is not the first. Company trials were completed by the end of 2016, and Russian sources predicted that the vehicle would be in service by 2017.
In July 2018 Russian media reported that tests would begin in October of that year. Once October 2018 came, it VDV cder Colonel General Andrey Serdyukov said that the VDV would receive Sprut-SDM1 battalion in 2020, and that trials of the vehicle would begin in December 2018.
This may be another such announcement designed to show that the programme is still going.
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Hello! Good morning. If your timeline is like mine, you might be seeing the Telegram post from the image below today.
Why? Well, in short, the poster claims to have seen intercepted Russian FPV footage that shows the drone using AI for terminal guidance.
He states that the operator flies the drone to the area and selects the target with AI assistance. It then flies into the target. This isn't the first use of AI in this application, there is good evidence that Lancet can do it too. The new Iz-53 variant is more autonomous.
The original poster (OP), later said he had watched two more videos.
The Russians have been talking about this for a while. The Gadfly reportedly carried this capability in August 23: #AI vk.com/wall-35660695_…
Hello! How are you? I'm good, thanks for asking. It's nearly Christmas and if you're winding down like me, you might enjoy a little technical thread on the T-90M.
Images are from @RecoMonkey, those guys do good work! The source? My book (JAFV21), and some desk research.
T-90M is the most technically capable tank in Russian service. It started life in 1999 as a way to improve on the T-90. It had entered trials by 2017 (rapid) and in 2018 there was talk of orders and deliveries. Vedomosti reported 160 T-90Ms under contract in 2020.
10 rebuilds, 50 T-90A conversions, and the rest presumably new builds. First deliveries followed later that year to the Taman Guards Div, part of the 1st Guards Tank Army. This image shows that fateful day.
Hello again, it’s Friday, how has your week been? Would you like to know more about the Trophy active protection system (APS)? Awesome, have a glance at the following. It's used by the IDF and others to protect armoured vehicles from anti-tank weapons like RPGs and ATGMs.
If you’re not keen on reading, the BLUF is that Trophy is a good system and well-proven, but it is not and never was perfect. Any losses we see are also half the picture and should not lead to knee jerk reactions or analysis on Trophy’s suitability.
Development:
The IDF started looking at Trophy in 1987, it was a team effort led by the Israeli MoD, its Directorate of Research and Development, Rafael, and Elta. They weren’t the first, the Soviets had developed the Drozd APS in the late 70s, and even sent some to Afghanistan.
Hello! How are you? Hope you’re doing ok.
I’ve built a thread to look at Namer, a heavy armoured personnel carrier (APC) that is in service with the IDF. You might have heard of it recently as 11 IDF personnel were reportedly killed in one when an ATGM hit their vehicle.
I have some thoughts on this at the end. If you don’t want to read that far; these things can happen to even the best-protected vehicles, a lot depends on the munition that hit it, and what was inside the vehicle.
Development: Maj Gen Tal, who oversaw development of the Merkava, decided that a heavy APC was needed in the 1980s, he had observed during Israel’s wars that infantry needed more protection than tanks. Interesting, right?
These are some images of Ukrainian BTR-4s from back in March. I came across them doing some research on wheeled mobility and thought I would use them to illustrate some elements of terramechanics.
In 2000 Ogorkiewicz wrote about the Vehicle Cone Limiting Index, a measure developed in the UK at the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) to determine the go/no-go strength of a soil for wheeled AFVs of certain weights.
The VCLI is used with the cone index of the soil type in question to indicate whether a vehicle can pass it. Different soils have different CIs, wet soils like clay are weaker than hard soils low in moisture and will allow heavier vehicles to pass.
Lots of good stuff coming from the @RUSI_org Land Warfare Conference today a few things following:
Oleksandr Danylyuk: The west and Russia made some assessments that were poor.
Russia's military demonstrations throughout 21 were designed to get Ukraine to accept Russia's view
The Russians thought this had worked and the West believed Russia would succeed in a matter of days.
Despite Western aid, it was Ukrainian heavy weapons that created the initial Russian reverses.
Failure to decapitate Ukr's political and mil control meant its goals failed.
Even after sanctions, Russia is in a much better position than Ukraine. But Ukr's successes have created misconceptions about Ru's capabilities and delayed heavy weapon deliveries.
Ukr had 200 Smerch and Uragan on 24th Feb, inability to replenish ammo has degraded their power.