MOSCOW, August 19. /TASS/. Russia has launched the state trials of the latest K-16 armored personnel carrier and K-17 wheeled infantry fighting vehicle based on the latest Bumerang combat platform, member of the board of Russia’s Military-Industrial Commission Mikhail Osyko told TASS in the run-up to the Army-2021 international military-technical forum on Thursday.
"The state trials of the vehicles [the APCs and the IFVs based on the Bumerang platform] are beginning. An experimental batch will soon arrive for the troops," the defense official said.
The quantity of the latest combat vehicles will be specified in Russia’s new armaments program, he added.
The base chassis can be used as a platform for developing communications and reconnaissance systems as it features a large capacity for installing required equipment, the defense official said.
The Bumerang is the latest standardized wheeled armored platform for multiservice forces developed by Military Industrial Company. The platform was used as the basis for developing the K-17 wheeled infantry fighting vehicle unveiled to the public at the Victory Day Parade on Moscow’s Red Square in 2015, and also the K-16 armored personnel carrier.
The K-17 infantry fighting vehicle’s baseline version is outfitted with the Epokha combat module with a 30mm automatic gun and a coaxial 7.62mm machine-gun and the Kornet anti-tank missile system. The K-16 armored personnel carrier is armed with a combat module with a 12.7mm machine-gun.