Russian Army To Receive Latest ‘Terminator’ Tank Support Vehicles In March-April

The Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) research-and-manufacturing corporation, a subsidiary of the Rostec state corporation, said Wednesday that the Russian Army will receive the latest Terminator tank support armored fighting vehicles in the first quarter of 2018.

"The contract is long-term. We plan to deliver the first batch of the tank support fighting vehicles this March - April. The whole contract will be completed by early 2019. The volume of deliveries is confidential, but overall it provides for the organization of operational testing for these specified products," the corporation told TASS.

The contract for the delivery of the BMPT ‘’Terminator” tank support vehicle to the Russian military was signed in August at the Army-2017 exhibition. The Terminator is designed to ride shotgun with Russian tanks and rake the battlefield with firepower, killing enemy anti-tank teams or suppressing them so they are unable to aim properly.

Chief of the Main Armored Directorate of the Russian Defense Ministry Lieutenant General Alexander Shevchenko earlier said that "this is a brand-new class of vehicle" "that many countries, mainly Israel and Syria, are interested in." The general specified that the AFV had successfully passed all test operations.

Previously, UVZ designed two variants of the tank support vehicle designated BMPT Terminator and BMPT-72 Terminator-2, respectively. The vehicles are intended to engage anti-tank (AT) threats, primarily AT soldiers armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers, man-portable anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) systems and small arms. The BMPT has two 30-millimeter 2A42 autocannons and two 7.62-millimeter PKTM machine guns and will use them to engage probable and identified anti-tank positions.