launches explosive projectiles 7 kilometers away

Ukraine’s extreme needs for military equipment in general and vehicles in particular are gradually being met by shipments and the subsequent commissioning of elements sent by allied countries. Aligned with the rest of NATO, the Spanish Ministry of Defense has already sent a few units of Leopard 2A4 tanks and TOA M-113 armored vehicles belonging to the army, with good results achieved so far in the war .

Today, new Uro VAMTAC (High Mobility Tactical Vehicle) vehicles manufactured by the Galician company Urovesa were deployed on the battlefield. incorporating the Alakran mortar on its backalso made in Spain. “Precision, speed and coordination. These are the qualities that determine the success of mortars,” Ukraine’s 210th Separate Assault Regiment posted on Facebook, referring to the equipment.

From the regiment under Zelensky, they also indicate that during the training, the servicemen honed their skills. handle the weapon in conditions as close to combat as possible and in preparation for deployment to the front. “It was comprehensive training,” said the commander in charge.

“It all started with the announcement of the alarm: the personnel received a combat order and put themselves in a firing position,” he says. “We have worked on rapid deployment and calculation [de los disparos]as well as the effectiveness of the impact of fire on the objectives.”

This training with Alakran is not the first they have faced Ukrainian troops. The European country’s relationship with the system began in 2017 when it acquired 6 units which were later integrated into its own Bars-8 armored vehicle. However, the use of the VAMTAC with the aforementioned mortar would represent an important change, mainly in everything related to the mobility that the Spanish all-terrain vehicle boasts in all deployments.

In a second round, announced in February 2023, when the war was at one of its most critical moments, Ukraine reached an agreement to purchase new Alakran mortars. The precise number is still unknown, although it is known that On this occasion, they decided to mount it on Toyota SUVsthe recent deployment within the 120th Separate Assault Regiment would therefore correspond to a third match.

Alakran Mortar

The Alarkan is a development of the Madrid-based company New Technologies Global Systems, now called Milanion NTGS. The system It owes its name to its ability to attack from the rear of the vehicle. where it is installed. The program was born from the need of armies to have light vehicles equipped with a mortar capable of offering high attack capacity as well as rapid and easy deployment.

The mortar tube mounted on the Alakran comes in two calibers – 120mm and 81mm, with interchangeability – and can fire a wide variety of munitions. For example, high-explosive projectiles (known by their acronym HE) to smoke grenades, both with a maximum rate of 16 shots per minute in the most recent versions.

Its longest range is 7 kilometers, although a Ukrainian-developed, laser-guided type of 120mm mortar shell can increase this range up to 7.5 km. This means it can cover a large combat area without needing to constantly move.

One of the most remarkable characteristics of mortar is its deployment speed: It only takes 35 seconds to plant your base to the ground to achieve stability, which also means that the vehicle is not affected or suffers structural wear from gunfire.

The hydraulic system allows the mortar to be raised and lowered quickly, increasing its effectiveness and versatility on the battlefield – the Alakran alone It takes 8 seconds to aim again and 25 to retract. Something that Ukrainians easily appreciate on the battlefield and that is combined with the fact that it is the lightest mobile mortar system in the world.

The Alakran is equipped with a fully digital fire control system which allows for greater precision in attacks. This includes, as stated Army recognitionautomatically aim and re-aim after each shot, achieving an accuracy of two thousandths. Spread over a kilometer, this translates into a deviation of only 2 meters for each kilometer ammunition tour.

Spanish off-road

Uro VAMTAC, as it is commercially called, It is based on the concept of the American all-terrain vehicle Humvee. with some adaptations and technological improvements because it is a more modern model. Its development took place throughout the 1990s and it entered production in 1998 and was integrated into the Spanish Armed Forces.

Since then, it has received a few updates that have spawned versions of the vehicle. The last of them is the one corresponding to the VAMTAC ST5 whose production began in 2013 and offers more cargo space, more available armor types, and the ability to carry more accessories.

The VAMTAC ST5 has a length of 4.8 meters by 2.1 in width and 1.9 in height and an empty weight of between 3 and 3.5 tonnes. He has a load capacity of up to 2.5 tonnes and a maximum mass of 5.3. Responsible for propelling these thousands of kilograms, a 6-cylinder turbocharged engine can develop between 187 and 245 horsepower, depending on the version, which allows it to travel at 135 kilometers per hour.

“The Vamtac can move at high speed with agility and safety in all types of terrain and in adverse areas where other off-road vehicles have difficulty”, according to Urovesa. The flexibility of its platform allows it to serve in different configurations in military and police environments.

From general cargo and troop transport vehicles to armored units, “including all types of weapon systems, firefighting, ambulances…” and even versions for the identification of explosives and against NBC warfare. Thanks to this, the Vamtac is one of the great successes of the Galician company Urovesa with exports to Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Oman , Belgium, Morocco and Slovakia.