Mysterious Russian vehicle: New armoured carrier spotted at Uralvagonzavod

A video has surfaced online showing an exciting vehicle moving around the Uralvagonzavod plant in Nizhny Tagil, which is responsible for the T-72 and T-90 tank families, among other things.

It appears to be an extraordinary armoured vehicle, looking like a heavy armoured personnel carrier built on a tank chassis, heavily inspired by the Israeli Namer. This response to Russian frontline needs, where standard infantry fighting vehicles from the BMP family are too lightly protected.

Recently, these have often been replaced by awkwardly junk-clad tanks looking like "armoured barns" or "tortoises." However, the junk provides only some protection against FPV drones with a single cumulative warhead, but shrapnel from artillery shells or rounds fired from automatic cannons will easily penetrate this type of shield. The same goes for modern anti-tank weapons.

From the footage, it is clear that the Russians built an armoured superstructure for six or possibly even ten soldiers on the hull of some tank (most likely a T-72, but possibly also a T-80). It can be assumed that its armour structure is similar to the hull or turret, so in theory, it should withstand hits from weapons capable of penetrating the equivalent of several centimetres of armour steel without any problems.

Interestingly, the superstructure ends at the back and most likely has a ramp where the engine is usually positioned, so this is a change compared to models like the BMO-T or Ladoga. This engine most likely moved to the front, as indicated by the less flattened front and drive wheels at the front, which are closest to the engine. In the case of T-72 tanks and others, drive wheels are located at the back.

This prototype is an example of how the Russians are also drawing lessons from the war in Ukraine, but even if the new vehicle quickly goes into serial production, its deliveries will still be too small to significantly impact the frontline situation.