Metinvest, a Ukrainian-based metal works company, informed it has established production of mine-sweeping rollers as part of the Steel Front initiative. The rollers have passed evaluation tests from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, and the first batch has already been handed to the National Guard and the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
The anti-mine attachments are designed for main battle tanks. The statement says these novelties are a "purely Ukrainian product made of Ukrainian steel." The engineers took KMT-7 mine rollers and modernized them for increased durability and reliability.
Read more: Russian Anti-Mine Ship Exploded in Sevastopol
The project was commenced this summer, and by now Metinvest managed to reach the production rate of five rollers a month. Each piece costs UAH 2.5 mln with supplementary equipment, it's about USD 65,000–67,000.
One full set has a weight of 6.5 tons, dimensions: 3.77 x 3.44 meters. "According to norms, one roller should [be able to] withstand 4 to 5 explosions on anti-tank mines. Since the rollers come in pairs, they have to endure 8 to 10 explosions. The roller has standard fasteners for the AFU tanks," the statement reads.
Earlier Defense Express reported that Metinvest also started producing metal replicas of howitzers and radars to act as decoys for russian weapons. There have already been over 250 realistically-looking dummies made, including copies of the D-20 and M777 towed howitzers, the 36D6 radar station, and the AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar for the Patriot air defense system.
The same trend was caught up by other Ukrainian enterprises, such as Temerland with its "Leopard 2 active mannequins" and whatnot.
Read more: Ukrainians Make Leopard Tank Dummies Off an Automobile To Deceive russians
