Image source: topwar.ru
The Ukrainian army will remain without a new domestic self-propelled mortar, the company "Ukrainian Armored Vehicles" has frozen work on a promising 120-mm mortar complex "Smereka".
The development of a self-propelled mortar complex based on the armored car "Varta" has been suspended indefinitely. As the CEO of the developer company Vladislav Belbas explained, work on Smereka has not been carried out since the beginning of the Russian special operation, funds for its development have not been allocated, the state commission created for testing has been dissolved. In general, there is no prospect.
On the other hand, he explained, the conflict with Russia showed that the need for mobile mortar complexes has disappeared, in conditions of positional warfare it is better to have 20-30 conventional mortars than one self-propelled. Mobile complexes are necessary for maneuverable warfare, when the enemy strikes at each other without engaging in protracted battles. So the freezing of the project did not cause any damage to the APU.
The Smereka 120 mm caliber mobile mortar complex was introduced by Ukrainian Armored Vehicles in 2020, positioning it as a highly mobile effective means of defeating the enemy. At the end of 2021, it was reported that the mortar is planned to be brought to the testing stage, after which it will be adopted by the AFU.
- stated in the company.
By the way, despite the freezing of the project, in February of this year Ukraine tried to promote Smereka on the international arms market. The complex was presented at the IDEX-2023 military equipment exhibition in Abu Dhabi as a "promising development" of the Ukrainian industry.
