Now Putin wants to send fighter jets against Ukraine Another Russian attack on Kherson – the night update without photos

After a year and a half of war against Ukraine, the Russian army apparently has to improvise more and more. The Kremlin’s planned rapid conquest of the entire country has turned into a grueling trench warfare along a nearly thousand-kilometer front. Putin’s troops must dig in and create new trenches to withstand the Ukrainian counter-offensive. But the construction machines from the civil sector used so far do not seem up to the task.

That is why the Russian tank manufacturer Uralvagonzavod now wants to produce an armored military tractor, reports the Ukrainian trade magazine “Defense Express”, citing a patent application from the company. The yet unnamed model is said to be based on the RTM-160 tractor, which Uralvagonzavod produced for agricultural purposes between 2004 and 2009. The Russian engineers are said to have used the PZM-2 as a model, a military utility vehicle from the Soviet era that was also based on a classic agricultural machine.

The Russian war machine depends on rails

According to Defense Express, the new machine has a larger cowling than the RTM-160, indicating an enlarged engine. The vehicle could therefore mainly serve as a powerful tractor. It is even said that there is a tow bar for railway wagons on the back of the new vehicle: Russian war logistics are heavily dependent on the railways, but there are always attacks on Russian trains, tracks, railway stations and camps. A mobile tractor for broken wagons would make sense from a Russian perspective. The machine must also have a milling machine that can quickly dig a trench.

“Defense Express” suspects that Russia is responding to the low level of mechanization of its logistics with the new war tractor. Images from the war zone repeatedly show Russian soldiers loading grenades and other ammunition into military trucks virtually one by one. Because Ukraine has Western long-range artillery, Russia has had to set up its weapons depots at least 80 kilometers from the front, making supplying the occupying forces even more difficult. A flexible tractor could simplify Russian war logistics.

According to Defense Express, another reason for developing a war tractor could be Russia’s dependence on imported agricultural and construction equipment. Even in the civilian sector, Russia is dependent on imports, especially from China. Therefore, from a Russian perspective, it makes sense to invest in the development of its own machines. However, due to Western sanctions against Russia, parts for the new military tractor are likely to come mainly from China.

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