Will Paramount’s Mbombe 6 APC be built in Ukraine?
Ukraine’s General Staff has released images of a South African Paramount Mbombe 6 6x6 armoured personnel carrier fitted with a locally designed remote weapon station, claiming it to be ‘a new Ukrainian-made armoured vehicle [which] was presented to the Commander in Chief’.
According to Shephard’s sources the Mbombe 6 is not yet in production in Ukraine... Continues below
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Above: An Mbombe 6 without armament installed, showing the rear troop compartment fitted with protected firing ports in the hull side. (Photo: Paramount Group)
In a statement Paramount Group said: ‘The Mbombe 6 Infantry Combat Vehicle as seen on social media in the Ukraine is a demonstration vehicle that was shipped to the Ukraine with all the required export permits, prior to the outbreak of the war. It has been tested in the Ukrainian armed forces over several months. The export permit for the vehicle was recently extended to June 2025.’
Paramount added: ‘There is strong interest for the local production of the vehicle in the Ukraine and other European nations due to its advanced capabilities and ease of local production and technology transfer. However, contrary to social media reports there is currently no contract between Paramount and the Ukrainian government to produce vehicles in Ukraine.’
Shephard’s sources indicate that Paramount is indeed looking to push sales of the Mbombe 6 in Europe, which are expected to include local production.
The Mbombe family of vehicles was developed as a private venture for the export market in 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8 configurations which all share as many automotive components as possible.
Turning to the RWS, Ukraine has a long tradition of developing its own turrets for installation on domestically produced AFVs such as the BTR-3 and BTR-4 8x8 APCs, as well as upgrading older Russian-built vehicles such as the tracked BMP-1. Ukraine calls these remote turrets ‘combat modules’.
Above: The Mbombe 6 in Ukraine seen fitted with a locally developed Spys-Synthez combat module but no Barrier ATGWs. (Photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine).
The Mbombe 6 in the pictures was fitted with the locally developed Spys-Synthez Combat Module which is normally armed with a stabilised 30mm ZTM-1 cannon, two 7.62mm machine guns, a 30mm KBA-117 automatic grenade launcher and Barrier antitank guided weapons (ATGW) mounted one externally either side.
It should be noted that in the photograph the Barrier is not fitted on the Combat Module. Barrier is a Ukrainian laser-guided ATGW with a maximum range of at least 5,000m using a tandem high-explosive anti-tank warhead that is claimed to be able to penetrate at least 800mm of armour.
Other articles in this newsletter:
Six of the best – why the 6x6 APC is enjoying a renaissance
Why was there no proper competition for the British Army’s Mobile Fires Platform?
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