Ukrainian state-owned Ukrainian Defense Industry (UDI) company, formerly known as Ukroboronprom, reported an upcoming localization of production of Senator armored vehicles from the Canadian company Roshel. Earlier, the parties announced establishment of service centers in Ukraine for the repair and maintenance of these armored vehicles that are already fighting the russian invasion in the ranks of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
In total, Ukraine operates more than 1,400 Senators. In September 2024, the founder and CEO of Roshel, Roman Shimonov, said that they produce nine Senators per day, that is, 63 vehicles per week, or 270 per month, or 3,285 per year. Of course, not all of them are intended for Ukraine, as Roshel has other customers. However, the localization of production signals the possibility that the Ukrainian military will acquire significantly more in the future.
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According to many reviews from Ukrainian troops, Senator vehicles have repeatedly proven themselves capable in real combat conditions. As a versatile platform, Senator varies in specifications based on the configuration but most commonly it features bulletproof protection up from STANAG Level 2 (withstanding a 7.62x39 armor-piercing bullet from 30 meters) and STANAG L3 in mine resistance (up to a 8 kg mine). The vehicle is powered by a 6.7-liter V8 diesel engine, which provides up to 120 km/h road speed. The Senator's crew and passenger capacity is 10 personnel.
Regarding armament, the Senator can integrate manned turrets or remote-controlled weapon stations with 7.62mm or 12.7mm machine guns and automatic grenade launchers. In particular, at the MSPO exhibition in Poland, Senators were presented with RCWS featuring 14.5mm KPVT heavy machine guns and a GSh-23 air defense autocannon. These weapons fully equip the Senator to be fielded, for example, as a drone destroyer in near-frontline areas.
Worth noting, Ukraine has a number of domestic manufacturers of wheeled armored vehicles to compete with: the Ukrainian Armor JSC, Praktika, UkrArmoTech, and Inguar, just to name a few. Local companies insist their production capacities are able to completely satisfy the demand of the national defense forces in vehicles of this class.
Ukrainian-made vehicles have no less positive reviews from Ukrainian defenders. Nonetheless, UDI chose to introduce a foreign manufacturer to the Ukrainian market in a rather narrow niche, raising questions about the reasoning behind the decision.
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