Russian "Tigers" are currently the most modern examples of wheeled military equipment in the land forces of the armed forces of Zambia.
Zambia defence forces GAZ Tigr 4x4, multipurpose, all-terrain infantry mobility vehicles pic.twitter.com/TV6DeCB4GR
— alex (@africaken1) March 14, 2021
Earlier in this country, the old Soviet BTR-60, BTR-70, BRDM-2, Chinese WZ-551, South African Ratel and British Ferret were operated.
In the report of the Russian Federation to the UN Register of Conventional Arms for 2019, it is reported that 22 such armored vehicles were sent to this African state.
Recently, they were demonstrated for the first time during exercises, where they maneuvered on rough terrain, covered the bodies and fire of dismounted soldiers.
Interestingly, instead of the already familiar 7.62-mm PK machine guns, 12.7-mm "Cord" or 30-mm automatic grenade launchers AGS-17 "Flame" on these samples, a completely different weapon was used. On the roofs of the Tigers, behind the protective shields, you can see the MG3, which is a development of the German MG 42 machine gun of the Second World War.
Zambia was not the first African country to pay attention to the Russian "Tigers", they are also available, for example, in the armies of Algeria and Guinea.
The creators of domestic wheeled military equipment are currently continuing to work on new versions of armored vehicles. So, last year for the first time presented a buggy based on the "Tiger", created for various operations behind enemy lines.
Alexey Brusilov