Ukraine anniversary parade to unveil new generation of military hardware

Ukraine will unveil a new generation of military hardware at a parade next week marking 30 years of independence following the Soviet Union’s breakup.

Kyiv will hold one of its biggest-ever military parades on 24 August, and it is promising to show off a host of new home-grown military vehicles.

The headliner of the parade is expected to be the first public demonstration of the newest Neptune coastal missile system with the Mineral-U radar. The RK-360 Neptune is a coastal missile system designed to engage enemy surface fighting ships and auxiliaries vessels both single and belonging to Task Forces.

Neptune’s unit includes six USPU-360 launchers with 24 R-360 cruise missiles. The R-360 missile weighs 870 kg; the weight of its warhead is 150 kg; its launch range is up to 280 km and its speed is about 900 km/h. It is able to get at a height of from 3 m to 10 m above the surface. The complex can simultaneously launch up to 24 missiles, i.e. a full salvo of 6 launchers, with an interval of launches in a salvo being from 3 to 5 seconds.

Ukraine’s Neptun cruise missile can be located at a distance of up to 25 km from the coastline, and its deployment lasts up to 15 minutes.

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Ukraine also will use the parade to display its new and upgraded main battle tanks, including the newest Oplot-BM and upgraded T-64BM2.

For the first time also will be showing the new Kozak-2M armored vehicles. It is the second generation of local-developed Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) armored vehicles.

It has a monocoque structure with an integrated special V-shaped hull that provides greater protection against roadside bombs. V-shaped hull helps deflect blasts out and away from the crew and its armoring can be customized to meet any mission requirement.

Produced by Practika company, the Kozak-2M offers protection equivalent to the NATO STANAG 4569 Level 2 sufficient to protect those insides from 7.62×51 mm ball ammunition fired at a range of 30 m, as well as hand grenades and anti-personnel explosives.

Also for the first time, the Ukrainian military will show an advanced version of BMP-1 which includes the installation of SPIS (Spear) combat suite, which comprises two R-2 antitank guided missiles, a KBA-117 30mm automatic grenade launcher system, a 30mm ZTM-1 main gun and a PKT 7.62mm coaxial machine gun.

The new Grim-2 missile system will also take a special place in the parade line. The Grim-2 has a range of 350km, but technically, a missile is able to fly up to 500km. The new system was developed by Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in partnership with Pavlograd Chemical Plant and Kharkiv Morozov Machine-Building Design Bureau.

In addition, Kyiv is promising to show new robotic combat vehicles. The celebrations will feature RSVK-M Hunter, Ironclad, Camel and Peacekeeper robotic platforms.

In addition to this, a whole yard of special-purpose vehicles will be shown, including vehicles for providing satellite communications.