Ukrainian Armor eyes German industry partnership for newly unveiled land vehicles

Ukrainian Armor unveiled its Varta 3 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle at the MSPO trade show. (Breaking Defense)

KIELCE — The CEO of Ukrainian Armor says that the Eastern European firm is looking to German industry, potentially like Mercedes-Benz’s defense arm, in a bid to forge an industry partnership to support manufacturing of two new land vehicles unveiled at the MSPO trade show .

Speaking about plans for the Saigak Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) and Varta 3 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle, unveiled here, Vladyslav Belbas told Breaking Defense, “We are trying to pay attention to the German market, in terms of [securing] cooperation with German companies such as Mercedes-Benz.”

Saigak, he said, represented the firm’s first foray into light armored vehicles, while the Varta 3 is “based on” the Mercedez-Benz Unimog chassis. Saigak features an active protection system that the company says can defeat up to 20 First Person View (FPV) drones, amid a proliferation of the aircraft dominating the war in Ukraine.

Belbas said that the vehicle is “dedicated” to transforming unarmored civilian pick-up vehicles and protecting them from drone threats, adding that the conflict’s “kill zone” currently stretches between 20 to 30 kilometers (12.4 to 18.6 miles), while longer-range drones can attack as far out as 100 kilometers.

Separately, he said that the Varta 3 can protect passengers from an eight kilogram TNT explosion and is equipped with ballistic protection.

“We hope the new products will find interest on the market, [and] we also look forward to cooperating with German industry … because Germany is one of the biggest donors now to Ukraine, but they want also to involve their industry in these donations,” Balbas added.

He explained that no discussions with the German government have been held, however, regarding future vehicle orders.

On Iran, Ukraine And Air Defenses

During the discussion with Breaking Defense, Belbas also offered his view on the status of the war against Russia, and how it had been effected by another conflict thousands of miles away: Iran. He stressed that the high expenditure of US weapons used against Tehran and for air defense in the Middle East has had a profound impact.

“We cannot judge or make conclusions on what America is trying to do with their own weapons. … But definitely, it [Iran war usage rates] gives significant damage to supplies of air defense missiles in Ukraine, and now you see that unfortunately [over] the last few weeks in Kyiv,” he said.

Looking at how Ukraine can counter Russian attacks without desperately needed weapon systems like the US Patriot, Balbas focused on a two-fold solution: local production of air defense missiles and jet-powered interceptors, in parallel with attacking Russian production sites.

He said he believed that a peace settlement is “very far away” because Ukraine’s position has been weakened as a result of expending interceptors to counter Moscow’s ubiquitous use of Shahed-style drones .

“So on the battlefield, Ukraine is progressing a little, not Russia. But in the rear, cities are destroyed. … All of this because [of] a lack of Patriots, interceptors.”

He was also critical of some European firms willingness to pursue industrial partnerships. “When we come to some European companies for discussing some cooperation, they evaluate … [their] return on investment,” he said. “All this in Ukraine we invest because we want to survive. We are not investing to get the money back.”

乌克兰装甲公司在MSPO防务展上发布了其Varta 3型防地雷反伏击车（MRAP）。（Breaking Defense）

基尔采——乌克兰装甲公司首席执行官表示，这家东欧公司正在寻求与德国工业界（例如梅赛德斯-奔驰的国防部门）合作，以建立行业伙伴关系，支持在MSPO贸易展上亮相的两款新型陆地车辆的生产。

谈到在此亮相的赛加克装甲运兵车（APC）和瓦尔塔3型防地雷反伏击车（MRAP）的计划时，弗拉迪斯拉夫·贝尔巴斯告诉《防务新闻》：“我们正在努力关注德国市场，争取与梅赛德斯-奔驰等德国公司开展合作。”

他表示，Saigak代表了该公司首次涉足轻型装甲车辆领域，而Varta 3则“基于”梅赛德斯-奔驰Unimog底盘。Saigak配备了一套主动防护系统，该公司称该系统能够抵御多达20架第一人称视角（FPV）无人机的攻击，而这类无人机在乌克兰战争中正大量涌现。

贝尔巴斯表示，该车辆“专门用于”改造无装甲的民用皮卡，保护它们免受无人机威胁。他还补充说，冲突的“杀伤区”目前延伸至 20 至 30 公里（12.4 至 18.6 英里），而远程无人机的攻击范围可达 100 公里。

另外，他还表示，瓦尔塔3型汽车能够保护乘客免受8公斤TNT爆炸的伤害，并配备了弹道防护装置。

“我们希望新产品能在市场上受到关注，我们也期待与德国工业界合作……因为德国是目前乌克兰最大的捐助国之一，但他们也希望让自己的工业参与到这些捐助中来，”巴尔巴斯补充道。

他解释说，但尚未与德国政府就未来的车辆订单进行任何讨论。

关于伊朗、乌克兰和防空系统

在与《防务新闻》的讨论中，贝尔巴斯还就对俄战争的现状以及远在数千英里之外的另一场冲突——伊朗冲突——如何影响了这场战争发表了自己的看法。他强调，美国在伊朗和中东地区防空方面投入巨资购买武器，产生了深远的影响。

“我们无法评判或断定美国试图用自己的武器做什么……但可以肯定的是，伊朗的战争使用率对乌克兰的防空导弹供应造成了重大破坏，不幸的是，过去几周在基辅就出现了这种情况，”他说。

巴尔巴斯考虑乌克兰如何在没有像美国“爱国者”导弹这样急需的武器系统的情况下反击俄罗斯的攻击，他提出了双管齐下的解决方案：一方面在当地生产防空导弹和喷气式拦截机，另一方面攻击俄罗斯的生产基地。

他表示，他认为和平解决“遥遥无期”，因为乌克兰为了对抗莫斯科无处不在的“沙赫德”式无人机，消耗了大量拦截器，导致其地位被削弱。

“所以在战场上，乌克兰略有进展，俄罗斯则不然。但在后方，城市却被摧毁了……这一切都是因为缺乏爱国者导弹和拦截导弹。”

他还批评了一些欧洲公司寻求产业合作的意愿。“当我们与一些欧洲公司洽谈合作时，他们会评估……投资回报率，”他说。“在乌克兰，我们投资是为了生存。我们投资不是为了收回成本。”