MOSCOW. Feb 11 (Interfax-AVN) - The Tigr-M special armored motor vehicle will be adopted by the Russian army in the first half of 2013, press secretary of the Military-Industrial Company Sergei Suvorov has told Interfax-AVN.
"The upgraded modification of the Tigr (Tiger) armored vehicle, Tigr-M, is expected to be officially adopted by the Russian army in the first half of 2013," Suvorov said.
He said Tigr-M has passed all official tests and is being finalized by the requirements of the customer, namely its mine resistance qualities are being enhanced.
Suvorov said that even though Tigr-M has not been officially adopted yet it is produced in series at the Arzamas Engineering Plant for export. Currently, Tigr vehicles are delivered to the Republic of the Congo, Brazil, Uruguay and Guinea.
The GAZ-233014 Tigr special armored automobile belongs to the class 3 of ballistic protection in the rear and sides and class 5 in the front.
It has seats for the driver, unit head and four paratroopers. Space is assigned for ammunition load, RPG-26 anti-tank grenades, a radio station and bomb jammer.
The vehicle has 4x4 wheel arrangement, a payload of 1,500 kilos, and a personnel carrying capacity of up to 10. It has a combat weight of up to 5,300 kilos and maximum speed of 125-140 km/h. It is offered either with a six-stage mechanical gearbox or five-stage automatic gearbox.