ROSTOV-ON-DON. Nov 20 (Interfax-AVN) - A company of modernized small light-armored prime movers comprising some 10 to 12 vehicles is undergoing military tests in a motorized rifle regiment of the 42nd motorized rifle division stationed in the Chechen Borzoi village, Lieutenant General Vladimir Nedorezov, the North Caucasus military district's chief of armament and deputy commander, said on Tuesday.
The modernization of prime movers was carried out by specialists of the Murom machine-building plant located in the Vladimir region. Proposals on the modernization were developed by the Defense Ministry's 21st R&D automobile testing institute. The prime movers received heavier armor and additional armor was placed on its bottom.
According to Nedorezov, the modernized prime movers are mainly used to support raids and convoy military columns. Prime movers fitted with 30mm automatic guns and additional armor became closer to APCs in its combat specifications, but lost a share of their mobility, passability and cargo capacity i.e. in the qualities they are mostly praised for in the troops.
"To compensate for those losses we have contacted designers and the leadership of the Murom plant asking not to fit the prime movers with 30mm guns, but with only more powerful 12.7mm machine-guns," Nedorezov said.
According to him, the GAZ-3937 Vodnik off-roaders produced by the Gorky automobile plant are used widely by the unified federal group in the breakaway republic. They undergo tests in Chechnya too and are used for convoying columns. The operation of an off-roaders is cheaper than that of an armored personnel carrier.