MOSCOW - The Russian Ministry of Defense has launched a project for the development of a next-generation armored engineer vehicle for the armed forces. The project has been named "Gorets-O", or "mountaineer" in English.
The Gorets-O will be a large, armored, amphibious tracked vehicle equipped with machine guns, electronic countermeasure devices, and a GLONASS navigation system. It will be able to withstand temperatures ranging from -40°C to +40°C.
The vehicle is intended to be used in advance of troops on the battlefield to clear obstacles, bridge ditches, and even plough minefields. It will be equipped with a ditching scoop and backhoe, a hydraulic hammer, winches, and a crane, among other necessary equipment in order to perform these duties.
The vehicle will have an operational range of 600km and remain on site for at least three hours without refueling.
The MoD anticipates that the vehicle's development will cost about RUB350 ($6.84 million). The first pre-production prototype is expected to begin testing in 2017.
The Gorets-O will eventually replace the IMR-2, IMR-3 armored breaching vehicles and BAT-M and BAT-2 military bulldozers. The Russian armed forces have an estimated 1,523 IMR vehicles in inventory, 596 of which are IMR-2s. Regarding the BAT-2, there are an estimated 519 in inventory.
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