MOSCOW, May 4. /TASS/. Russia’s Kurganmashzavod defense manufacturer (part of High Precision Systems Holding Company within the state tech corporation Rostec) delivered infantry fighting vehicles to Russian troops in the first quarter of this year in an amount equal to its deliveries for the whole of 2019, Rostec said on Thursday.
"Kurganmashzavod (part of High Precision Systems Holding Company within the state corporation Rostec) has dispatched a new batch of BMP-3s under the defense procurement plan. In the first quarter of this year, the enterprise supplied as many infantry fighting vehicles as it did for the whole of 2019. Also, output doubled at Kurganmashzavod’s Volgograd site specializing in major repairs of BMD-2 and BTR-D airborne armored vehicles," the Rostec press office said in a statement.
In the immediate future, the enterprise will dispatch a new batch of repaired vehicles to the troops. The vehicles have their service life fully recovered and most of them receive new basic assemblies and mechanisms, it said.
In the first quarter of this year, Kurganmashzavod hired almost 1,200 workers compared to over 1,000 last year, Rostec Armaments Cluster Industrial Director Bekkhan Ozdoyev said.
"Faster deliveries of metal, assemblies and components by counterparties have been organized to ensure the continuous production process," he said.
In addition, the 144th armor repair plant in Yekaterinburg placed under the enterprise’s management has also commenced active work for repairing equipment for the Airborne Force, the press office said.
The BMP-3 infantry combat vehicle was created by the Special Engineering Design Bureau in the second half of the 1980s and is produced by Kurganmashzavod. The vehicle can carry a crew of three and seven assault personnel.
The amphibious vehicle features a 100mm gun capable of firing missiles and three 7.62mm (one coaxial and two bow) machineguns. The BMP-3 weighs 18.7 metric tons and can accelerate to 70 km/h on the road. The combat vehicle has been operational in the Russian Army since 1987.