Ukroboronprom to supply Athlete armored maintenance vehicles to Ukraine Army

SE Kharkiv Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering has begun serial production of armored repair and evacuation vehicles Athlete.

The vehicle is designed to provide technical support of tank units and carry out evacuation and repair works in combat conditions, Ukroboronprom press service reported.

To perform these tasks, Athlete is equipped with a crane installation with a 25-tonne capacity, which allows replacing main tank units and assemblies, including the turret and engine.

Read alsoUkraine opens Mi-8/Mi-17 repair center in Bangladesh – mediaFor the evacuation of military vehicles, Athlete is equipped with a 250 kN winch, which is sufficient to tow main battle tanks at speeds up to 25 km/h.

A 1000 hp-engine allows the 46-tonne vehicle reaching speeds up to 70 km/h.

Athlete can carry up to 1.5 tonnes of cargo. It is equipped with welding gear and other equipment, which allows carrying out a wide range of works to restore combat capability of armored vehicles directly on the battlefield.

"This combat vehicle will greatly enhance technical capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and ensure the proper level of combat readiness of tank units," the report said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine is launching a series production of active protection systems Zaslon and Shershen, which will be supplied to Turkey.