The recorders are part of the PPO-25 intelligent fire control system developed by Elektromashina Association.
“The system has already undergone preliminary trials and is currently being tested on new types of armored vehicles,” Ilya Markin, the head of Elektromashina’s firefighting division, told Izvestiya.
He added that the system memorizes the entire sequence of fire extinguishing operations thus making it possible to determine the time, place and causes of the fire.
Independent military expert Oleg Zheltonozhko said that the appearance of onboard recorders on Armata, Kurganets and Bumerang fighting vehicles was necessitated by their technological complexity and price.
“Onboard recorders are normally installed on the most expensive and complex machines like planes, spaceships and helicopters, but the cost and complexity of the latest tanks and armored vehicles is now putting them in the same category,” Zheltonozhko said.
According to Viktor Murakhovsky, editor-in-chief of “Arsenal Otechestva” (Arsenal of the Motherland) journal, Russia’s T-72B3, T-80 and T-90 tanks now carry onboard systems of fire suppression, which respond to sudden temperature jumps caused by a fire and put out the flames using special foam.
The Russian Defense Ministry unveiled its next-generation Armata tank during last year’s May 9 Victory Day military parade in Moscow.
It also rolled out a bevy of heavy armored vehicles based on the Armata combat platform, such as the Kurganets-25 tracked infantry fighting vehicle and the Bumerang amphibious wheeled armored personnel carrier.
The Kurganets and Bumerang IFVs are currently undergoing testing ahead of their first deployment slated for 2017.
