russian propagandists write that during one of the regional parades on May 9, 2024, one of the prototypes of the rare 502TB Altaiets armored vehicle was shown. It was redesigned into a sanitary version for further shipment to the combat zone against the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
russians emphasize that this vehicle was at one of the depots of the Ministry of Defense of the russian federation, from where it was transferred as a museum exhibit. However, local "craftsmen" restored 502TB Altaiets APC, which gave us a reason to recall this rather specific armored fighting vehicle, which dates back to the 1990s and did not go into mass production at the time.
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Some details about russian 502TB Altaiets APC can be found on btvt2019 Telegram channel. According to this material, the question rises: why russians decided to return at least one copy of this rare vehicle into service, even in a sanitary version?
The author details that work on the 502TB Altaiets was underway in the early 1990s. It was designed at the Rubtsovsk Mashine Building Plant that has even gone through bankruptcy several times. russians assumed that this vehicle would be a replacement for the MT-LBu amphibious armoured carrier. The 502TB vehicle is based on some components of the BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle.
The main reason why the 502TB Altaiets did not go into mass production was an unfortunate layout that made it problematic to place any personnel on board, let alone use it as an ambulance vehicle. According to the author of btvt2019, several copies of the 502TB Altaiets APC were made, which are still in storage in various institutions.
Specific characteristics of russian 502TB Altaiets APC are not publicly available. But there is an archived video that demonstrates the buoyancy test of this vehicle.
And the fact that russians decided to put such a rarity in service emphasizes the level of problems in russian Armed Forces with the number of available armored vehicles.
Another russian armored vehicle should be mentioned. It is also based on the BMP-3 IFV, but its fate is unknown. We are talking about BT-3F vehicle, which was presented in 2010, but as of early 2024, this one was still at the testing stage.
Some russian resources claim that there was a contract for the supply of BT-3Fs for the Indonesian Marine Corps, but there is no publicly available evidence that this contract was actually implemented.
Earlier Defense Express reported that production of russian TOS-1 Solntsepyok had increased severalfold.
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