Watch New Tactical Vehicle that Can be Transported by Helicopter

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Russia’s Military Industrial Company (VPK) has developed a concept for a new family of light tactical vehicles. The Strela (Arrow) is a 4×4 multipurpose air-transportable armoured platform that can be configured as a command-and-control, protected transport, or patrol vehicle. It carries up to eight servicemen, including the driver, depending on the configuration.

The designers “have created an experimental armored vehicle model of the VPK-Strela family. As of today, our Army simply has no armored vehicles of this type,” Company CEO Alexander Krasovitsky toldtass.com. Weighing 4.7 tonnes, the vehicle can be transported military transport helicopters like a Mi-8 on an external sling. The Strela is designated to transport personnel and various cargos, he added.

The Strela features a modular design and has only Russian-made subsystems. The platform uses advanced commercial-off-the-shelf components of the GAZ vehicle family, which Russian industry plans to mass produce. 

The Strela is 4.7 m long, 2.2 m wide, and 2.1 m high. It is powered by a 2.8-litre 200 hp diesel engine, producing a top road speed of 155 km/h and a range of 1,000 km. 

The vehicle has a five-stage mechanical or six-stage automatic gearbox. 

”VPK enterprises will produce the vehicle, with JSC Arzamas Machinebuilding Plant responsible for final assembly [and] have the capacity to produce over 500 platforms a year,” Krasovitskiy told Janes.com.