In an Oct. 21 post on Telegram the pro-Moscow milblogger “Ugolok Sitha” gleefully announced the arrival of the Sarmat-3 vehicle, used by Russian special forces and airborne troops, on the battlefield in Kursk. Photographs posted on the site showed the vehicle supposedly in action near the front lines in Russia’s Kursk region – the first confirmed sightings of this new vehicle.
On Saturday, Oct. 26, the Ukrainian milblogger “Lost_WarinUA” equally gleefully announced that one of the vehicles had been destroyed in the Glushkovo village in the Kursk Region. What made the announcement even sweeter from the Ukrainian point of view was the fact that the Russian commentator Aleksey Zolotaryov had originally identified the hulk as “a piece of burnt-out Ukrainian metal.”
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According to local witnesses, the vehicle was ambushed after it struck a landmine, killing one and seriously injuring at least one more. The incident highlights the vulnerability of Russian forces to mines and improvised explosive devices, as they try to launch their counteroffensive against Ukrainian defensive positions in the occupied areas of the Kursk region.
The Sarmat-3 is the latest version of the family of lightweight armored military vehicles that Russia’s OKB Technika bureau began to develop more than a decade ago. It was put forward for evaluation in 2016 by the Russian Armed Forces which called for modifications many of which were for a replacement of components from Western countries for domestically produced “import substitutes.”
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In 2018 the modified version, now called the LSTS-1943 Sarmat-2 was presented at the annual Armiya military forum and again offered for evaluation, but the defense ministry called for further improvements. These were incorporated in what is now the LSTS-1944 Sarmat-3, which was finally accepted in 2022. It is available in both an enclosed version, the Sarmat-3ME which can carry eight fully equipped personnel or be used for casualty evacuation capable of transporting two wounded soldiers on stretchers.
The light version which can accommodate four soldiers or a 900-kilogram (2,000-pound) load internally and up to 100 kilograms (220 pounds) on an unprotected rear platform. The version seen in the Kursk combat zone is said to have been fitted with additional armor, which didn’t seem to help in this instance.
The light version is said to achieve road speeds of up to 120 kph (75 mph) with a range of 500 kilometers (300 miles). The vehicle can be armed with 7.62 mm or 12.7 mm machine guns, AGS-17 grenade launchers, or the Kornet anti-tank missile system.
