Ukrainian Otaman-3 Amphibious Armored Personnel Carrier

via KyivPost.com

A prototype unit of the Otaman-3, a new amphibious armored personnel carrier, was for the first time presented in public at the Weapons and Security exhibition, which kick-started in Kyiv on Oct. 8.

The vehicle was designed by Kyiv-based private company Practika in a bid to propose a solution replacing old Soviet BTR and BRDM family carriers with a highly protected, universal, and heavily armed vehicle fit for modern warfare, specifically for non-linear and asymmetric combat.

According to developers, the Otaman (a Cossack chieftain) is an armored carrier optimal for marine combat formations. It was designed with a focus on ensuring the personnel’s best possible survivability and with due consideration to recommendations from Ukrainian combat veterans of the Donbas war.

“The most important thing nowadays is not only to make it to a battlefield,” the company’s director-general Oleh Vysotskiy said during the presentation. “But also get back alive. Increasing the chances of soldiers to survive and get back alive was our priority.”

In tune with modern tendencies, the Otaman-3 vehicle was designed to have its engine section in the forward body, while its landing compartment is placed in the afterbody. This is particularly believed to be ensuring additional robustness as personnel exits the vehicle on the battlefield.

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