The RIA Novosti news service is reporting that the Russian Defense Ministry has decided to equip the country’s ground forces mostly with wheeled rather than tracked armored vehicles.
Ground Force commander Col. Gen. Vladimir Chirkin told the Russian news service that “The Defence Ministry has decided to replace the majority of tracked armored vehicles with wheeled vehicles. We will soon start R&D work on the development of wheeled vehicles.”
The general said the replacement will involve self-propelled guns, air defence systems and light tanks.
One of the main reasons for the replacement is the longer service life of the wheeled vehicles, Chirkin told RIA Novosti.
“The service life of the tracked vehicles until a major overhaul is up to 30,000 kilometers while that of the wheeled vehicles is up to 1 million kilometers,” Chirkin said.
Wheeled vehicles will also allow the military to minimize railroad transport during redeployment.
Russia signed a deal with Italy’s Iveco company last December on the semi-knocked down assembly of Lynx light multirole armored vehicles for the Russian Ground Forces in the central Russia city of Voronezh, the news service noted.
In addition, Russia is currently working with France on the development of armored vehicles with a French wheeled base but equipped with Russian weapons and Russian turrets, it added.
Primary Sources:
http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2012/07/17/russia-to-equip-ground-forces-with-mainly-wheeled-armoured-vehicles-wheels-extend-vehicle-service-life/Good Hunting.
MR
