MOSCOW, October 6 – Novosti. The creation of equipment for a future new generation of soldiers “Legionnaire” will be accelerated – research work on the project will be reduced from the originally envisaged two or three years to one year, a source in the Russian military-industrial complex told Novosti.
Earlier, the same interlocutor told the agency that the Legionnaire would be the equipment of a future new generation of soldiers, which would replace the Ratnik and Sotnik kits.
“Initially, it was assumed that research on the Legionnaire equipment would last for two to three years, but the customer changed the requirements and gave the task to speed up. Thus, this stage of work will be completed by the end of 2023,” the agency’s interlocutor said.
By the end of 2020, the Russian army received more than 300,000 sets of second-generation Ratnik equipment, the lead developer of which is TsNIITochmash. Today, the development of equipment of the third generation “Sotnik” is underway, some of the elements of which are already undergoing preliminary tests. “Legionnaire” belongs to the fourth generation.
As Novosti was previously told in Rostec, the Sotnik equipment will be made of special polyethylene fiber, which, on the one hand, will make the equipment light, and on the other, will provide a protection class higher than that of existing bulletproof vests. Composite armor will receive shock absorption, which will stop fragments at speeds up to 670 meters per second and prevent organ contusions and fractures. In addition, Sotnik can be equipped with an active exoskeleton with electric motors, it can also include robotic systems and artificial intelligence elements.
Subsequently, a source in the military-industrial complex told Novosti that they also plan to equip the Sotnik with optical devices to blind the enemy at long range. In addition, new-generation equipment can be equipped with “nano-pilots” (drones weighing only 180 grams) developed by the Kronstadt group.
As for the Legionnaire, its planned composition and characteristics are still unknown.
