The Indonesian Marine Corps put several new Ukrainian-built BTR-4M armored personnel carriers through their paces on Jan. 19-22, and was impressed with the results, the APCs’ maker says.
Five APCs,produced and supplied by Ukrainian defense industry concern Ukroboronprom, underwent rigorous testing in Indonesia’s tropical conditions – jungle dirt roads and in the waters of the Java Sea. They successfully traversed 100 kilometers of highway from the Indonesian capital of Jakarta to the coast, surprising the marines with their advanced cross-country ability, and managing to extract themselves from deep mud without the help of tractors, Ukroboronprom said.
The armored vehicles also performed well in the water, Ukroboronprom reported.
Spetstekhexport, an affiliate company of Ukroboronprom, won a tender to supply 50 of the APCs to Indonesia’s Marine Corps in late 2013, beating a Russian rival offering its BT-3F vehicles. However, in May 2014, the Indonesian ministry of defense said that it was suspending the contract in the wake of the start of the war in the Donbas.
After two years of uncertainty, the Ukraine’s National Guard demonstrated the new export version of the BTR-4M. According to Ukroboronrpom, most of the new APCs were assigned to Ukraine’s Armed Forces and were later used in combat in the Donbas. The remainder were slated for export, including the ones that were tested in Indonesia.
The Ukrainian BTR-4 can perform rapid transportation of personnel on the battlefield, as well as provide supporting fire for infantry. The machines can cope with virtually any kind of environment: marine, mountain, flat terrain, paved and dirt roads, and arctic or tropical conditions.They even protect troops from the effects of nuclear explosions, the makers say.
To meet the customer’s needs, the Ukrainian designers modified the BTR-4 to boost its amphibious capabilities for marines. The vehicles were equipped with German Deutz engines and Allison gearing systems, which meet all NATO standards.
The APCs supplied to Indonesia are also armed with a modern heavy combat turret and a digital targeting system. All five units successfully hit all of their practice targets during the tests.
