Salon-IDEX-2019-cz.-1

120 mm L/45 smoothbore gun with reduced recoil.

On February 17-21, Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, hosted the International Defense Exhibition (IDEX) 2019 for the fourteenth time, one of the most important world exhibition events in the field of defense and security.

The organizers of the event gave it a jubilee character, because 25 years have passed since the first IDEX exhibition was held last year. IDEX was also again accompanied by the NAVDEX (Naval Defense Exhibition) trade show.

Due to its location in one of the most important military, economic and financial, and for some time also innovation and new technology regions of the world, IDEX has always strived to stand out among similar global exhibitions, and its organizers have always sought to classify it in the "premium segment ". And since among the countries located on the Arabian Peninsula and its environs, quite a lot is spent on new weapons for the armed forces and equipment for law enforcement services, the offer of the Abu Dhabi Motor Show is usually very rich, although it is primarily aimed at the markets of rich countries Persian Gulf. IDEX clearly shows how seriously the UAE authorities take the defense and security sector and how consistently they strive to increase their own production and research capacities in this area.

The scale of the exhibition is huge and impresses even the regulars of the Parisian Eurosatory or major Western air shows, so one article is not enough to tell even about the main novelties of IDEX this year. In the first part of our report, we will talk about combat vehicles and combat vehicles, artillery systems and air defense. We will definitely return to some of them in separate articles in subsequent issues of Wojska i Techniki.

local industry

Two years ago, the Rabdan 8×8, which was created in collaboration with companies from the UAE and Turkey, became a hot novelty among wheeled combat vehicles. This year, two of these cars - as standard - participated in the dynamic show, and one more was presented at the static show. All of them were equipped with turrets dismantled from BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles.

A novelty of this year in this category of combat vehicles was the prototype EDM1 (Engineering Development Model) of the Wahash, presented at the Calidus booth of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Two prototype machines (EDM1 and EDM2) were created, which are the work of specialists from the UAE and their partners from South Africa. The project was initiated in 2017, and now its authors announce the successful completion of ballistic and mine resistance research.

The Wahash is self-supporting and shaped to provide the highest possible level of fire and explosion protection. The suspension and chassis elements are mounted outside the hull, which, on the one hand, increases the latter's resistance to explosions, but also facilitates repairs in the field. The car in the 8×8 configuration has a length of 8,5 m, a width of 3,2 m and a height to the ceiling of 2,7 m. Ground clearance is 450 mm. The creators of the vehicle claim the combat weight of the Wahash is 32 kg (curb weight approx. 100 tons, additional ballistic and mine shields that provide resistance at level 22 STANAG 4A / B, three crew members and eight paratroopers, BMP-4569 turret, ammunition, fuel, buoyancy is preserved), with a carrying capacity of up to 3 kg. The protected space inside has a volume of 7500 m³. During the premiere, Wahash was deployed with a Ukrainian BM-13,5 Szturm unmanned turret.

The drive is provided by a Scania DI13 diesel engine with a maximum output of 540 kW/735 hp, paired with a ZF 7 AP 2600 SP automatic transmission and a Katsa MKAT100539 transfer case. As already mentioned, the machine is adapted for swimming, and jet propulsion is provided by two TDTS T900 jet propulsion units.

The basic 2nd level of ballistic protection can be increased by installing additional armor up to STANAG 4A level 4569, and the system of additional bottom shields allows you to increase the level of mine protection to 4A / B according to STANAG 4569B.

The Wahash has two steerable front axles and is also available with a fourth steered axle, which is expected to increase maneuverability and reduce the turning radius. The last parameter is 23 m in the version with two steered axles, and with three steered axles it drops to 18 m. The maximum road speed is 130 km/h, the range is 700 km, including on paved roads. The car accelerates from 0 to 60 km / h in 20 seconds, Wahash overcomes ditches up to 2 m wide, walls 0,8 m high, slopes with a slope of 70% and a traverse of 40%. It overcomes water obstacles up to 2 m deep without any preparation. The device moves at sea state 2, the speed on the water is 8-10 km/h. Operating temperature range from -30 to 55°С.

There were new items at the exhibition of the local manufacturer of armored vehicles NIMR Avtomotiv LLC, also known in our part of Europe. He introduced several varieties of Ajban Hafeet two-axle and three-axle vehicles. Among those in the 4 × 4 system, the armored Ajban 447A 4 × 4 MRAV (Multi-Role Armored Vehicle) and a modified version of the Ajban LRSOV (Long Range Special Operations Vehicle) deserve attention.

The Ajban 447A 4×4 MRAV is 5,65m long, 2,35m wide, 2,17m high, and its permissible gross weight is 9585kg, with a load capacity of 3995kg. The crew consists of two people (commander and driver), and the car can carry five more soldiers with equipment and weapons - all of them take their places facing in the direction of travel.