KPE’s Barys 8x8 vehicle nearing service entry
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Defence is in the final stages of the evaluation of Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering's (KPE's) Barys 8x8 armoured vehicle ahead of acceptance into service, Paramount Group announced on 7 March.
The Barys is the winterised version of Paramount’s Mbombe 8 and features advanced land system technologies according to the company. The vehicle has been developed to meet the increasing demand for multi-role, high mobility and mine hardened platforms.
The winter trials of the Barys started in early December 2017 at a military tank test site in central Kazakhstan and included a series of intensive factory acceptance tests. The tests are intended to evaluate and optimise the complete weapon system, platform and turret.
Currently, the vehicle is equipped with a Shipunov 2A42 30mm automatic cannon and a 7.62mm machine gun jointly manufactured by joint venture Kazakhstan Aselsan Engineering and the Turkish parent company Aselsan. The weapon system was evaluated during both day and night firing sessions, in static and fire on the move modes. The 30mm cannon, which has ranges greater than 2000m, was demonstrated successfully under the severe ambient conditions according to Paramount.
The vehicle design allows for the addition of a large range of other weapon systems, enabling it to be customised for armed forces throughout the world.
The 8x8 combat vehicles will be produced at the 15,000sqm KPE armoured vehicle factory in Astana in Kazakhstan.
Johan Delport, director of the KPE factory in Astana, said: ‘The most severe winter conditions prevailed during testing, similar to conditions found in Siberia. During this period the temperature dropped to -45 celsius with a chill factor of -60 celsius, resulting in serious challenges to man and machine while conquering up to 750mm of soft snow.
‘During such conditions every smallest detail and subsystem could be evaluated extensively. Items such as glass heating for de-ice and de-misting, engine heating before starting, batteries, cabin heating, electrical functions, steering, and suspension have been successfully tested. The vehicle performed exceptionally throughout the trials.’
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Land Warfare
-
DSEI 2025: Avon Protection Focuses on Integrated Respiratory and Ocular Systems for Defence
At DSEI 2025, Avon Protection outlines its latest developments in integrated headgear and respiratory protection systems designed for military and specialist users.
-
DSEI 2025: Still no order from British Army or Germany for RCH-155 Boxers
The first customer for the RCH-155 artillery system on the Boxer platform is Ukraine, which has already started to take delivery of the first of 54 systems from KNDS Deutschland. There is still no contract from Germany or the UK, while Hanwha continues to say it can supply its K9 system at short notice.
-
DSEI 2025: Cambridge Aerospace Skyhammer and Starhammer interceptors make debut
The startup’s solutions have officially emerged from cover since the company’s inception in 2024, with its two interceptors offered as cost-effective air defence solutions to counter cruise missiles and uncrewed aerial vehicles.
-
DSEI 2025: Belgium will be fourth user of 40mm 40CT cannon
The cannon is currently used by the French Army, French Navy and British Army. It has an elevation of +85° with a cyclic rate of fire of 200 rounds per minute.