New weapon transforms Vietnam's PT-76

Russia is developing a new super bullet for the AU-220M turret, which promises to bring extremely powerful attack power to Vietnam's PT-76 combat vehicle.

Russia's Rostec technology corporation has just introduced a smart artillery shell, a product of the NPO Pribor design bureau. The shell's appearance is identical to conventional shells, the difference lies in the small-sized fuse equipped with artificial intelligence (AI).

The AI ​​fuse will program the time of explosion of the shell before leaving the gun barrel. The time of explosion is automatically calculated by the control computer based on parameters such as distance to the target, wind direction and air humidity.

When approaching the target, this fragmentation bullet will be detonated and shoot out thousands of small balls like a cloud capable of destroying enemy equipment, especially small devices such as flycams and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), said Mr. Sergey Rusakov, representative of Rostec.

BMP-3 combat vehicle with AU-220M gun.

As of now, the ammunition design process has been completed and is about to be tested in the field. In the first stage, this ammunition will be tested on the AU-220M Baikal 57 mm automatic gun module used for the BMP-3 vehicle upgrade package, according to Sergey Rusakov.

The AU-220M turret being equipped with new smart ammunition will bring much stronger and more reliable attack power to the equipped combat vehicles, including Vietnam's PT-76.

A source from the Russian Ministry of Defense said: "The Russian state corporation Rosoboronexport also provides an upgrade package for the chassis and turret of the PT-76 vehicle. Accordingly, the vehicle will be equipped with an AU-220M turret, a high-speed weapon system with a 57mm cannon with a full stabilizer, and a muzzle recoil reduction device that significantly reduces recoil when firing."

The AU-220M turret was developed by the Burevestnik Central Research Center of the famous tank manufacturer Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) for both new and improved armored vehicles. The module is equipped with a 57mm automatic gun and a 7.62mm machine gun mounted on a remote-controlled platform.

Notably, according to the Army-Technology website, this new generation AU-220M turret can be equipped with PT-76 amphibious light tanks produced since the 1950s, which Vietnam is using in large numbers in its Army and Navy armored forces.

According to Baodatviet