Serbia Unveils Armored Vehicle Fitted With Russian 57mm Combat Module

Serbia has unveiled Lazanski, a new armored vehicle equipped with Russian-made 57 mm AU-220M Automatic Weapon Station.

The vehicle was presented for the first time on October 12 at the “Partner 2021” military exhibition being in Belgrade.

The new 30-ton vehicle is 8m long, 3.2m wide and can accommodate upto 13 people. It provides Mine protection and ballistic protection. Lazanski is armed with an Automatic cannon 57 mm, Machine gun 7.62 mm. It can shoot 80 bullets per minute, Serbian state media reported today.

The vehicle is a modified version of the Lazar-3. Lazar-3 has a highly sophisticated, modular ballistic protection. The hull is made of armored steel and can be fitted with a spall liner.  The applied ballistic protection can be tailored to the specific needs of the user. The vehicle floor has two levels of anti-mine protection. Four versions of Lazar 3 are developed: Armed with 12.7mm machine-gun RCWS, Armed with 20mm auto-cannon M-55 RCWS Kerber, Launcher of RALAS missiles, and Ambulance.

The main difference between Lazar and Lazanski is the presence of the multi-purpose cannon, complete armor without windows and increased range (14km) in Lazanski. The 57-mm cannon uses penetrating ammunition, which is extremely powerful and can penetrate the armor of light tanks.

As per a press release by manufacturer CRI Burevestnik, the AU-220M is designed for installation on future armored combat vehicles and modernization of currently deployed vehicles in order to increase fire power of motorized rifled and infantry units.

AU-220M main armament can also be used to accomplish air defense missions thus expanding combat flexibility of armored combat vehicles. It is designed as a remote-controlled unmanned artillery module.

The Fire Control System (FCS) controls the operations of target detection and identification, gun laying and firing of the 57mm automatic gun and 7.62mm machine-gun when firing from a halt, on the move and on the float in any combat enviroment.
The FCS is equipped with a sight unit, comprising a combined sight with thermal-imaging and TV channels, a laser-finder and independent dual-axis field of view stabilization.

It provides all-around fire – protection against 7.62mm bullets (~Level 3 acc. to STANAG 4569); and against 30mm bullets (~Level 5 acc. to STANAG 4569).