Not my preference to start a new thread, but this just doesn't fit in any...
In the mid 1980s, GABTU issued a series of technical specifications for a new vehicle that would have replaced the MT-LB multipurpose vehicle. The vehicle was expected to improve on the original characteristics of the MT-LB, e.g better armour protection, stronger engine, better load bearing, ergonomics, and more. The results were not promising, as the request for all-around improvement led to higher expected purchase and operational costs, and the vehicle drifted from the original concept of a cheap armour-tractor to a highly capable utility carrier that also demanded greater level of maintenance, training and prices. And so, even before the collapse of the USSR - that is, only a few years after the state's request for the development of the vehicle, it was cancelled on ground of not meeting the expected operational requirements.
Relevant link(s):
Sometimes tankporn is a real gold mine...
The pictures below are of what many suspects to be a Glider ( english translation of планёр, I believe), discovered in Ukraine. Source is probably telegram, though I got those pics from this reddit thread, and a commenter claimed that it was found after a Russian missile strike, and put back into service somehow. Very interesting that the chassis bears what seems to be a Kharkovite Sprut turret, sporting multiple optronics device ( 2 very distinct sights, one appears to be a commander's periscope sight offsetted from his cupola, the other a fire control sight with a very small optical window, a possible boresight device/LRF mounted right atop the gun breech area, and obviously a Luna IR lamp).
p/s: please excuse my formatting skills
Edit: on second thought, what I imagined to be a boresight aid might actually be just an extension of the cupola. Optical illusions...
In the mid 1980s, GABTU issued a series of technical specifications for a new vehicle that would have replaced the MT-LB multipurpose vehicle. The vehicle was expected to improve on the original characteristics of the MT-LB, e.g better armour protection, stronger engine, better load bearing, ergonomics, and more. The results were not promising, as the request for all-around improvement led to higher expected purchase and operational costs, and the vehicle drifted from the original concept of a cheap armour-tractor to a highly capable utility carrier that also demanded greater level of maintenance, training and prices. And so, even before the collapse of the USSR - that is, only a few years after the state's request for the development of the vehicle, it was cancelled on ground of not meeting the expected operational requirements.
Relevant link(s):
Sometimes tankporn is a real gold mine...
The pictures below are of what many suspects to be a Glider ( english translation of планёр, I believe), discovered in Ukraine. Source is probably telegram, though I got those pics from this reddit thread, and a commenter claimed that it was found after a Russian missile strike, and put back into service somehow. Very interesting that the chassis bears what seems to be a Kharkovite Sprut turret, sporting multiple optronics device ( 2 very distinct sights, one appears to be a commander's periscope sight offsetted from his cupola, the other a fire control sight with a very small optical window, a possible boresight device/LRF mounted right atop the gun breech area, and obviously a Luna IR lamp).
p/s: please excuse my formatting skills
Edit: on second thought, what I imagined to be a boresight aid might actually be just an extension of the cupola. Optical illusions...
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