Armored vehicle tire production: Vietnam is not inferior to Russia

Russia was surprised when Vietnam accepted the production line of heavy armored vehicle tires with technology not inferior to Russia.

This comment was just published by Sputnik news agency citing the comments of Russian military experts, from now on Vietnam has been able to produce armored vehicle tires to supply domestic needs and end the period of importing this type of tire.

The General Department of Defense Industry has just organized the acceptance test of the armored tire production line of Danang Rubber Joint Stock Company.

This is a project to complete the industrial mobilization preparation line to serve national defense needs as required by the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army.

BTR-60PB armored vehicle in the Vietnam Marine Corps.

Danang Rubber Joint Stock Company is currently the only enterprise in the Central region of Vietnam with sufficient capacity to meet the task of mobilizing the industry to produce armored vehicle tires, special vehicle tires and rubber products to serve national defense needs.

Implementing the direction of the General Staff and the Military Region V Command, Da Nang Rubber Company has invested in completing the armored tire production line on the basis of making the most of available technological capacity and equipment.

Currently, the demand for armored vehicle tires in the military is quite large when the Vietnam People's Army has in service hundreds of armored vehicles, thousands of medium and heavy military cars. The Vietnam People's Army's wheeled armored vehicle equipment includes 3 main vehicles: BTR-60 and BTR-152 armored personnel carriers; BRDM-2 reconnaissance armored vehicle.

According to Russian news agencies, with Vietnam's capabilities, it is very likely that in the future, when Russia's technology to produce bulletproof and mine-resistant tires for armored vehicles goes into production, Vietnam will soon be licensed and produce this type of tire.

The NU402 tire, produced by the Kama Scientific and Technical Development Center, can allow soldiers to continue driving when their tires are hit by bullets. It will be fitted to military trucks carrying Kornet-E anti-tank mobile missiles and Tiger armored fighting vehicles, a Defense Ministry official said.

"Currently, the new bulletproof tire is being tested in the initial stage and will enter combat testing later this year," the representative added.

According to Sputnik, if the Russian Ministry of Defense successfully certifies Kama's new product, all types of armored fighting vehicles, especially the Tiger series, will be equipped with this special tire. The "armor" layer made of special materials protecting the NU402 tire has a much more complex structure than current standard tires.

It can withstand explosive devices containing 400g of TNT or machine gun shots and mortar fragments. The combat vehicle can then leave the danger zone at a speed of 50 km/h.

Similar technology is currently being developed at the French company Hutchinson. The company is supplying bulletproof tires to the armed forces of developed countries, however, the durability and endurance are inferior to NU402.

''NU402 helps the vehicle to continue moving even when the entire tire is completely burned, in this case, the last point of contact with the road surface is the metal core that can help the vehicle leave the danger zone.'' Mr. Oleg Zheltonozhko - Director of Kama Science Center revealed and further affirmed that using NU402 tires can help Russian infantry gain the upper hand on the modern battlefield.

According to Baodatviet