Ukraine Switches to German Engines, Discards Russian Military Gear Amid Crimea Row

Ukraine’s leading defense group Ukroboronprom has signed a deal with German producer Deutz AG to acquire engines for the armored personnel carriers (APC) used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The new engines will replace Russian gear, which are to be discarded.

With the latest contract, Ukroboronprom is aiming to cut spending on new engines and ensure that the equipment used by Ukraine’s military complies with NATO standards, said Artur Heruvimov, the company’s deputy chief executive, as quoted in a statement.

The engines will be supplied to the Armed Forces' BTR-4 vehicles. The procurement will allow Ukroboronprom to save about US $25 million and use these funds to develop and produce new weapons and equipment, the statement said.

Ukraine has intensified efforts to replace Russian-made military gear with weapons and equipment supplied by NATO member states following Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula.

The BTR-4 is an eight-wheel-drive vehicle enabled with a maximum speed of 68 mph, according to data from Ukroboronprom.

Based in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, Ukroboronprom is a state-owned group that consists of some 137 companies specializing in manufacturing and export sales of aircraft, missiles, armored vehicles, ships, munitions, radio communication, and other types of arms and military equipment. The group was established in 2010 with the aim to consolidate the country’s fragmented defense industry.

Historic first: IDF operates unmanned APC in Gaza

IDF modifies old M113 APC, giving it ability to carry four tons of supplies to soldiers in the field without endangering lives • Vehicle is operated remotely, can travel up to 50 kilometers per hour • IDF officer: We really broke ground with this.

 

During Operation Protective Edge, the Israel Defense Forces used a unmanned armored personnel carrier, a first in history. The vehicle was used to deliver supplies to soldiers on the battlefield.

"This is history," Lt. Avidav Goldstein, the head of the IDF's unmanned vehicle unit, said. "I feel we really broke ground in this realm. This is the first time in history, throughout the world, that such a thing has been done."

The IDF modified an old M113 APC (the type of APC in which seven Golani Brigade soldiers were killed by an anti-tank missile in Shujaiyya), giving it the ability to carry several tons of supplies to soldiers in the field without endangering lives.

The unmanned APC can travel 50 kilometers per hour (31 miles per hour) and hold around four tons of equipment. It is operated remotely by soldiers in a control vehicle, located inside Israel, which has a steering wheel, pedals and a screen