2023 Author: Bryan Walter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 22:24
The Khrulev Military Academy has patented a transport-loading robot for replenishing the ammunition of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled artillery in battle. As follows from the materials of Rospatent, the invention is an MT-LBu tractor with an ammunition supply mechanism in the cargo compartment. The robot can reduce the loading time of military equipment with shells three to four times.
In the Russian army, several types of transport-loading vehicles (TZM) are engaged in replenishment of ammunition, but they lack versatility. For example, the crew of the TZM122 has to manually transfer ammunition from the cargo compartment through the rear hatch. It is long, difficult and risky. From the TZM-K, the shots are transferred to the self-propelled howitzer using a robotic arm controlled by an operator. But this vehicle is too big to be used to feed ammunition in combat. Its height is 3.29 meters, which is 1.29 meters higher than that of MT-LBu.
Soviet amphibious armored personnel carrier MT-LB, nicknamed "motorcycle league", was developed in the first half of the 1960s. MT-LBu, its elongated version, appeared in the late 1960s. The armored personnel carrier can reach speeds of up to 32 kilometers per hour on the highway and up to 5 kilometers per hour afloat. Despite the considerable age of the "motorcycle rider", the Russian army is in no hurry to abandon it, but plans to modernize it.
The Military Academy of Logistics named after General of the Army Khrulev in April patented a transport-loading robot for urgent replenishment of ammunition for tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled artillery and units of other branches of the military or forces in battle. It is an MT-LBu, in the cargo compartment of which the ammunition supply mechanism is located. The latter is brought to the turret of the tank, where the crew receives ammunition. This reduces the time it takes to feed ammunition by three to four times. The robot can be controlled remotely within a radius of up to five kilometers.
This is not the first time the Russian army has experimented with the motorcycle league. Earlier we wrote how the MB-LB was turned into a robot to search for the wounded. He can not only load the injured soldier, but also provide him with primary care, including the introduction of pain medications.
