MOSCOW. Feb 11 (Interfax) - State trials of the next-generation armored personnel carrier (APC) mounted on the Bumerang unified wheeled platform will begin this year, Military Industrial Company General Director Alexander Krasovitsky said.
"The company is developing the next-generation armored personnel carrier. This is the K-16 APC mounted on the Bumerang unified cross-branch wheeled armored platform," Krasovitsky told Interfax on Thursday.
"K-16 will begin state trials this year. The preliminary trials of the armored personnel carrier were completed last year, and the vehicle was designated as O," the general director said.
"This is a brand new vehicle in its class boasting a high level of security," he said.
"The design incorporates every modern scientific and technological achievement; so to say, the vehicle is based on a breakthrough engineering solution. If necessary, the vehicle can be operated remotely: there is an information and control system of the chassis, which supports every robotic movement function," Krasovitsky said.
"A new vehicle control system and transmission have been developed," he added.
"Engineering competences have been developed in order to create this APC, the entire production cycle has been modernized, and new test benches have been built," he said.
Krasovitsky told Interfax earlier that K-16 was drastically different from the existent BTR-82A and BTR-90, and their only common feature was the 8x8 drive.
"All the rest is completely different: a front engine layout, a troop compartment in the aft for aft landing, modular armor, a high level of mine and ballistic protection, a digitalization system, a situational awareness system, an onboard data control system, and much more. I can tell you that no one in our country has done that before, and many systems have no foreign analogues, either," Krasovitsky said.