A new infantry fighting vehicle equipped with an uninhabited combat module has been created in Russia. It received the name “Manul”, said the chief designer of the Special Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering (SKBM, part of the Kurganmashzavod structure of the state corporation “Rostec”) Sergey Abdulov on Friday, August 28.
The “Pallas’ cat, presented at the Army-2020 forum, is better equipped than the BMP-3 and has higher technical characteristics,” RIA Novosti reports.
“In my opinion,“ Manul ”is a transitional stage between BMP-3 and armored vehicles of the future,” Abdulov said.
The new vehicle meets all modern requirements, while it has a lower price compared to armored vehicles, which are created as part of promising R&D projects.
The ground forces of the Russian Federation are showing interest in the new product. To proceed to the next stage of work on this BMP, SKBM specialists must receive a terms of reference from the military department.
On August 25, Deputy Defense Minister of the Russian Federation Alexei Krivoruchko said that as a result of contracts signed during the Army-2020 International Military-Technical Forum, the Russian Armed Forces will receive more than 500 new models of equipment, more than 80 thousand missiles and ammunition.