Ukraine’s largest charity foundation, Come Back Alive has purchased 11 armored vehicles to hand them over to the 36th separate marine brigade of the Ukrainian Navy, which recovered after the defense of Mariupol.
This deal, with an estimated value of $2,3 million, covered a delivery batch of 11 LC79 SH Fighter-2 armored vehicles.
According to a press release from Come Back Alive foundation, these vehicles are based on the Toyota Land Cruiser 79 SUV and are made in the USA.
“The request from the troops for equipment, including armored, for example, special armored vehicles, appeared literally immediately after the start of a full-scale invasion – in March 2022. The request is quite massive, since the Armed Forces have grown many times, ”says Taras Chmut, director of the Come Back Alive Foundation.
He also noted that batch of new vehicles “immediately go to the front”.
“These armored vehicles became in fact the first military goods that were registered for Come Back Alive by the State Export Control Service. And it was with these armored vehicles that the story began that stimulated me, with the support of many people, to push through changes to the Tax and Customs Codes,” said the Come Back Alive volunteer, first deputy executive director of the Ukrainian Veterans Fund, lawyer Ruslana Velichko.
The vehicles are designed to provide exceptional protection against of 5.56x45mm, 5.45x39mm, 7.62×39 and 7.62x51mm caliber balls at a distance of at least 10 meters and the explosion of two DM51 anti-personnel hand grenades.
Fighter 2 has a turret for weapons, including machine guns of various calibers and automatic grenade launchers, like the U.S.-made Mk.19, and can also carry 6 people. The armored vehicle is equipped with a reinforced suspension and a 4.5-liter eight-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine with a capacity of 195 horsepower, which provides a top speed of 100 km/h. The armored car has two protected fuel tanks of 90 liters each and a cruising range of 800 km.
