Vehicle-protection ordnance enters service in Russia

The Russian military has accepted into service new 76mm obscurant ordnance from the Central Scientific Research Institute for Precision Machine Engineering (TsNIITochMash), a subsidiary of Rostec.

Designated 3VD35, the protective countermeasure is designed to be used against high-precision air-launched missiles, artillery barrages and third-generation anti-tank missile systems such as Javelin, Rostec noted in a 19 September statement.

3VD35 is 290mm long and weighs 1.8kg. It is designed to be ‘fired in the direction of the enemy's attack’ and creates an aerosol screen that foils the guidance systems on adversary-fired precision-guided munitions, Rostec added.

‘The main advantage of the ordnance is the ability to protect armoured vehicles from high-precision munitions, especially from attacks in the most vulnerable upper hemisphere, which has less armour and usually is not covered by dynamic or anti-cumulative protection,’ said Bekhan Ozdoyev, director of Rostec's Armaments, Ammunition and Special Chemicals Cluster.

Ozdoyev added that potential export customers have already shown ‘a high degree of interest’ in 3VD35.