The Ataman armored personnel carrier will become impenetrable – it will receive enhanced protection and a new bottom
The modernized Ataman armored personnel carrier will take into account the experience and mistakes made during the development of the old version, as well as new requirements from government military agencies.
The new armored vehicle will have a changed hull silhouette due to the internal rearrangement of internal components. The engine and transmission compartment, located in the old car to the driver’s right, will completely occupy the entire front of the interior volume. The driver’s seat will be moved to this compartment, which should significantly improve the ergonomics and safety of the crew.
According to Serhiy Vilkov, a representative of the Ukrainian Research and Production Association Practika, this layout will be similar to the German wheeled combat vehicle Boxer, which will result in a similar silhouette with the upper frontal part tilted at an acute angle.
“This project was developed quite actively in 2018-2019, but for various reasons it was suspended. However, right now we are in the process of developing a new Ataman in an updated version,” said Vilkov.
The Ukrainian project of the Ataman armored personnel carrier has been completely restarted, with the engineers given a fairly detailed and serious technical task. It was written with a clear understanding of what the new armored vehicle should look like.
In particular, the modernized armored vehicle will have a class 5 protection level, according to the STANAG 4569 standard. It provides protection against shelling with sub-caliber 25-mm shells from a distance of 500 meters.
The new Ataman will have a multilayer V-shaped bottom, which was not present in the old version. It will provide the best mine protection for the crew and infantrymen in the airborne section.
Practika is developing two versions of the machine with a 6×6 and 8×8 wheel configuration. They will be designed with maximum unification, which means using the same engine and transmission for both platforms.
The weight of the old Ataman in the 6×6 version, fully equipped with a combat module and hinged ceramic armor, is 26 tons. At the same time, the expected weight of the new armored vehicle in the 8×8 version, as stated by the developers, will be 30-32 tons.
