Commanders!
Today, we have a new vehicle for you that’s coming to Armored Warfare in February. You’ve been asking for powerful scouts to complement the Sphinx and Jaguar on high Tiers and boy do we have one for you. Enter the Typhoon-VDV!
But first, a bit of history as usual.
The history of the Typhoon family of armored vehicles began with the requirement for a modern multi-purpose wheeled platform with unified components for the Russian military. The history of the project began with cooperation between several major companies, including UralAZ, KamAZ, YaMZ (engine), NII Stali research institute (armor) plus a few more.
The project was launched in 2010 although the attempts to design this kind of platform go back to the 1980s and the Soviet Union (before its collapse). The 1990s were not a good time for Russia and many projects (including this one) were cancelled due to budget cuts only to be re-started in the 2000s and 2010s when the economic situation improved.
The program was primarily launched to replace the aging unprotected trucks and other means of infantry transport and the first prototypes that came from it in 2011 (Typhoon-U and Typhoon-K) were 6-wheelers. These are highly modular with many different configurations. The lighter version of the platform with 4 wheels came a few years later, in 2015, with the KamAZ-53949 Typhoon 4x4 (also unofficially referred to as “Little Typhoon”).
The KamAZ K-4386 Typhoon-VDV is a further development of the “Little Typhoon”. It is an air-droppable protected special-purpose vehicle (ZASN-D) for the Russian Airborne Forces. In its basic modification, the vehicle is equipped with the 32V01 Spitsa remotely controlled combat module with a 30mm 2A42 autocannon and a PKTM machine gun. It can also be equipped with a 9K111-1M Konkurs-M anti-tank missile system with two launch tubes.
The number of built Typhoon-VDV vehicles is unknown. The vehicle underwent the state trials in 2020 and allegedly entered official service. An export version is offered since 2021. It has seen combat since 2022 but the amount of vehicles built is unknown, likely quite low.
In Armored Warfare, the Typhoon-VDV will be a Tier 10 Premium AFV.
Typhoon-VDV will be a classic scout, on which you can expect solid mobility and firepower but low armor. Its main task on the battlefield will be to spot enemy targets – but spotting alone wouldn’t make for a fun vehicle to play, which is why the Typhoon has some nasty teeth in the form of:
- 30mm autocannon comparable in damage output to the T-15
- Konkurs-M launcher with two tubes, capable of launching two missiles at once (thermobaric warheads are available)
But that’s not all. In real life, Typhoon-VDV is meant for recon specialists and is packed with advanced equipment and electronics. As such, it serves as a hub for relaying information back to other troops. In Armored Warfare, this is reflected by a special new ability that increases the view range for all vehicles all around it by 30 meters, giving especially scout platoons an edge on the battlefield.
All in all, the vehicle will be ideal not only for pure spotting lovers, but also for players who want to use its firepower to take care of lighter enemies quickly and efficiently.
See you on the battlefield!