Russia’s Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, part of the Uralvagonzavod corporation, is set to produce the first armored tractor fitted with a new mine plow in 2019.
The plow, designed to clear anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, will be mounted on the protected models of the B10M2S and B12S tractors. Necessary changes will be made in the new vehicle’s design to protect the crew from fragmentations in a mine explosion. In case a plow hits an explosive device with the capacity exceeding standard mines, the tractor engine at the front will protect the driver from the explosion effects.
Tractors fitted with a mine-clearing plow are more mobile than mine-sweeper tanks and have a greater motor capacity; they are also more advantageous economically as tractor vehicles are less expensive than tanks.