Ukrainian Armor launches mass production of new military buggies. Why does the army need these light vehicles?

In late 2023, soldiers of the 58th Motorized Brigade repelled an armored assault by Russian troops near the village Staromlynivka in the Donetsk region. Among the enemy tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, small open cars in sand camouflage, in which Russians were moving, participated in the assault. Trying to escape from Ukrainian fire, the driver of one of these cars hit his fellow colleague-occupier.

Shortly before this assault, then-Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu showed off Chinese UTV DesertCross 1000−3 ATVs. It was already announced at that time that the Russian army would receive 1,590 of these vehicles by the end of 2024. These vehicles were among the column of Russian attack aircraft near Staromlynivka.

In Ukraine, the general public received this with laughter. The Chinese "pseudo-drones" were not intended for combat operations, were too tall for stealthy movement, and had too many electronics that were unnecessary in combat conditions. To put it simply, they were civilian vehicles.

But despite choosing an unsuccessful platform for combat conditions, the Russian command caught the right trend – in the face of an increasing number of FPV drones and "bombers" that shoot down trucks, pickup trucks, and armored vehicles, there was a need for light and mobile platforms for front-line logistics and assault operations.

In 2025, when FPVs can block front-line logistics by 25 kilometers, the relevance of military buggies increases. Such a front-line vehicle should be low, fast and as simple as possible, while having a small crew to minimize losses from enemy drones.

At a time when large military vehicles become easy prey for enemy drones, and ground robotic complexes do not have sufficient speed to quickly transfer supplies and equipment, a new niche is opening up for small and agile vehicles.

Engineers from the Ukrainian Armor company have set out to master it, launching mass production of military buggies, adapting their design to the needs of the front. A journalist from Defense visited the tests of this vehicle.

What should a military buggy be like?

The advantage of a military buggy over SUVs or other military vehicles is its simplicity, speed, maneuverability, and stealth. This allows it to perform tasks under constant enemy fire pressure and not depend on expensive repairs. Even if detected by the enemy, a small and fast car becomes a much more difficult target than a pickup truck or armored car.

The Buggy fits perfectly into the concept of maneuver defense, in which soldiers constantly change positions, retreat from and attack the enemy from the flanks. All this takes place over rough terrain and under heavy fire from allied forces. In addition, a small mobile platform can increase the mobility of fire units by carrying heavy machine guns, grenade launchers or MANPADS.

Another task for the buggy is to provide front-line logistics, when it is necessary to quickly deliver about 300-500 kg of food or ammunition to positions.

Classic SUVs and pickup trucks have a high silhouette, which creates a risk for the driver. They require more space for maneuver and have a lot of electronics and systems that are vulnerable to constant fire. At the same time, ground robotic complexes (GRCs) still have limited cross-country ability and very limited speed.

The experience of using such vehicles on the front line allowed us to create requirements for military buggies, engineer Volodymyr Sadyk, who has manufactured over 190 buggies for the Ukrainian military since 2022 and now works at the Ukrainian Armor company, tells a Defense journalist. The vehicles were ordered from him, in particular, by the Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation.

"For a buggy, it is important to have the lowest possible landing and center of mass with the highest possible ground clearance. That is, the serviceman should sit as in a go-kart, as low as possible. This way, the center of gravity of the entire vehicle will be as low as possible and we can aggressively maneuver over rough terrain at high speeds."

"The safety factor is no less important. When there are flights nearby and debris is flying, the lower a person sits, the less likely they are to be injured. The same thing works with small arms," Sadyk notes.

A specialized military buggy should have a reinforced one-piece frame, be spacious, have a minimum of electronic components, and mobile places for evacuating the wounded.

Another important requirement of the time was to reduce the number of seats to two people. This number turned out to be optimal for performing most tasks. Increasing the number of seats complicates the design and the machine loses its main advantages – lightness and low visibility.

For example, the American Polaris MRZR 2 buggy for special forces, although it has two seats, has a high landing, which at high speeds leads to the car turning over during maneuvers.

The Chinese DesertCross 1000−3 UTV, which is being purchased by Russians, has a similar problem. In addition, the crew is placed even higher and can consist of more than 5 people.

The general problem with this class of vehicles is that military variations of buggies are created on the basis of civilian ATVs or platforms that are focused on comfort and not intended for real combat use. The same Chinese ATVs, the Russians had the option of heating the open cabin (!), which looks ironic in front-line conditions.

In Ukraine, the Come Back Alive foundation also bought imported buggies for special forces. Civilian Segways were planned to be converted into assault vehicles using a remotely controlled machine gun. But this solution could not become widespread either.

The first mass Ukrainian military buggy

By 2022, Volodymyr Sadyk was already making buggies, but they were civilian and used for sporting purposes. However, after the full-scale Russian invasion, the engineer and his team completely switched to designing military vehicles, using their own metalworking equipment.

The first military buggy was called VOLS. It was created on units from VAZ cars. The cost of products for the military fluctuated around five thousand dollars. The cars were very repairable, because components from old cars were easy to get on the market. Thanks to this, it was possible to attract volunteer funding for the production of new models.

Over the past 3.5 years, dozens of design changes have been made to the buggy, based on the experience of operation in the troops. The machine has received additional luggage compartments, a pair of medical stretchers on both sides, and improved handling. The developer said that the VOLS performed particularly well in the Sumy direction during raids on the territory of the Russian Federation.

"One of the illustrative cases of the use of these buggies was during a raid in the Belgorod region, when in almost three days we managed to take out about 200 wounded soldiers from under fire. At that time, the military could not express how much this equipment helped. Two cars simply worked without stopping, only the drivers changed then. The design of the car turned out to be very successful," says Sadyk.

Combat experience allowed us to obtain a permanent base of customers who were willing to buy buggies. However, such purchases were not numerous, as they were made with the funds of charitable foundations, individuals, and the military themselves.

Buggy goes into series

The largest private weapons manufacturer in Ukraine, the company Ukrainian Armor, while researching the needs of the front, identified a demand for a universal and cheap specialized vehicle for logistical tasks.

In the enemy army, this function is currently performed by motorcycles and Chinese ATVs. In Ukraine, this niche remains underdeveloped.

Sadyk approached the company with a proposal to establish mass production of his machine. They responded to his proposal. At that time, the VOLS was already ready for production and had a history of operation at the front.

As a result, the engineer prepared a new modification of the buggy taking into account the latest trends on the battlefield and handed over the documentation, and Ukrainian Armor undertook to codify the development and begin its serial production at its own facilities.

A journalist from Defense managed to see the new modification of the machine with his own eyes before it was launched into mass production. We met with Volodymyr in one of the forestry areas near Kyiv.

"The most important thing for this type of equipment is the high ground clearance that we have implemented. It is 38 centimeters. At the same time, the car itself must be as low as possible. The height of the car is 1.4 m. The driver's head is at a height of 1.3 m. The driver and passenger are placed as low as possible in a semi-reclining position.

"The low height is an advantage that allows you to move quickly and maneuver actively. The car feels extremely cool in aggressive driving, when there are no roads, but there is a direction to move," Volodymyr Sadyk shows his development.

The buggy crew consists of 2 people. The total carrying capacity of the machine is 500 kg. It is capable of transporting up to 300 kg of cargo in the front and rear luggage compartments. The rear compartment is open and designed for loading provisions and ammunition. Under it is the engine.

The front compartment is covered with a fairing to protect personal weapons and sensitive cargo from mud and dust that sticks to the body during driving in rainy weather.

The advantage of the machine is the design of the folding medical stretcher, which opens in one second. During transportation, the soldier is compressed on the stretcher with a shock-absorbing effect, as if he were lying in a suspended hammock. And the low height of their fastening allows for quick and convenient loading of the wounded even in combat conditions.

Placing the wounded person between the axles longitudinally is very important, as it causes minimal rocking of the soldier. The vehicle's suspension smooths out the road surface and shakes the wounded person much less.

The geometry of the buggy chassis is designed for maximum possible suspension travel when moving off-road. The front arms are reinforced, which allows the machine to fly into forest plantations during an assault and ignore bushes, pits, small trees and stumps.

"If I'm driving through potholes or bushes, I just drive like a combine harvester and smash everything. Especially at high speeds," the developer shares his impressions.

It was important for the engineers to create a buggy with rear-wheel drive, rather than all-wheel drive. This is due to several factors.

Firstly, with all-wheel drive, the buggy loses its suspension travel on off-road terrain, as the chassis becomes heavier. Secondly, the advantageous weight distribution is lost and the front part of the buggy is loaded. This makes it much more difficult to climb slopes with an angle of 40 degrees. Thirdly, the high ground clearance of the car is lost, since front-wheel drive requires a different buggy design, which increases the dimensions.

The prototype is equipped with a 1.9-liter turbodiesel engine from a Volkswagen Golf with a capacity of 115 horsepower. However, for serial production, together with Ukrainian Armor, the French 1.5-liter turbodiesel Renault K9K was chosen, the production of which is deployed in Europe. In the future, other power plant options are also being considered.

The fuel tank capacity of the vehicle is 38 liters. The fuel consumption on the highway is 6 liters per 100 km, but in combat conditions over rough terrain it can reach a maximum of 12 liters. That is, the range "in combat" is over 300 km, which is enough to perform front-line tasks.

As Sadyk says, buggies mostly operate on the front lines at distances up to 50 km. From experience, the vehicle should have twice the fuel reserve to be able to return to the position even with a punctured tank.

The machine is designed with modularity, so the engine can be removed together with the radiator, control unit, cooling system and gearbox. To do this, you need to unscrew four screws.

This design was made to save time during maintenance of the vehicle in the army. The damaged module with all components is removed and sent for repair, and a new one is inserted in its place. Military units that operate the buggy should have ready sets of these modules.

The engine is an extension of the buggy frame and is installed without cushion units to reduce vibration during its operation. However, according to the developer, this is not an obligatory element for a military vehicle, as it significantly complicates the design and increases the weight of the chassis. In addition, cushions often do not withstand extreme operating conditions and destroy the chassis.

"We created a very strong "cocoon". There were cases of accidents and there were cases when the cars overturned in combat conditions. The crew flew out of the car, no one buckled up, this is the main rule. There were cases when the chassis was killed in accidents, but the frame itself, the entire cockpit remained intact and was not even "behaved", notes the VOLS developer.

According to the developer, the previous version of the buggy had an open frame made of pipes that did not have partitions. However, it was decided to close it after several "arrivals" of FPV drones with shrapnel next to the buggy, the crew of which was injured. It is such drones that cause about 90% of sanitary losses. But the engineers noticed that the flexible metal seats, which were only 1.5 mm thick, stopped most of the light striking elements. After that, they added 2 mm metal plating behind the head and back and on the sides of the car.

The car is equipped with a four-speed gearbox. The buggy's controls consist of only one starter button and four toggle switches, which include ignition, forced fan start, low and high beams.

There are also USB charging, temperature, battery charge and GPS speed indicators. A winch control panel is installed at the back. The fuel gauge is mechanical, without electronics, which often incorrectly determined the amount of fuel in the tank.

"We plan to install a hybrid power plant on the buggy. So that electric traction is output to one of the axles. This is important for three reasons. First, if something happens to the engine and it takes extra effort to get to the position. Second, this will allow us to drive the last kilometer to the enemy positions more quietly in the dark. And third, any equipment can be stuck in some mud, and in such cases, additional traction on the axle will not hurt," Sadyk shares his plans.

Hundreds of buggies per month

"When we went to the Ministry of Defence and started making demands for these buggies, we encountered bureaucratic incompetence. They started making some armored vehicles out of these buggies. They started to armor them on demand, put four people in them. And this is no longer a buggie, but a car. And this is reflected in their cost. Our principled position is to defend the concept that the front and the user of these vehicles dictate to us," Vladyslav Belbas, director of Ukrainian Armor, shared with Defense.

According to him, the cost of a production VOLS buggy should not exceed $20,000. But it is too early to talk about the exact price, since the codification process has not yet been completed.

Ukrainian Armor has undertaken to fully prepare the documentation and component base for the serial production of these buggies. The company's production capacity will allow it to produce several hundred vehicles per month, provided there is a state order. However, Belbas emphasizes that even these volumes will not be enough to meet the needs of the front.

Before preparing for large-scale production, the company was important to calculate the possibility of equipping VOLS with different engines and transmissions to reduce the cost of products. The buggy will not have electronics and speedometers. At the initial stage of production, half of the units will be supplied from Ukrainian enterprises, and the other half from abroad.

"Our task is to make our buggy cheaper than a pickup truck. It must be fast and reliable. Such vehicles will not block the functionality of transporting goods in the rear, because they are designed to perform combat missions."

"A buggy can be used at the front to transport the wounded, to deliver ammunition, for maneuverable defense or offensive. It can be used for a quick raid to the rear. It is clear that you will not take a pickup truck and go smashing the rear. And on a buggy, with a 12.7 mm machine gun attached, you can go and chase the enemy a little," Belbas summarizes.

Today, there are three levels of protection for equipment from drones. The first is active protection, i.e. electronic warfare equipment and combat modules. The latter are very expensive, so the Ministry of Defence often does not have the money to purchase them. The second level is passive protection, i.e. armor and screens (metal grilles). They can withstand many approaches, but this depends on the third level of protection – speed and maneuverability.

As long as the vehicle is moving, it can escape or dodge the drone. However, once it stops and misses the first drone, more will quickly arrive and destroy the vehicle.

It was with this understanding of the modern battlefield that the VOLS buggies were created, where the main focus was on the reliability of the suspension and engine protection, so that it would be difficult for the enemy to immobilize the vehicle.

On the modern battlefield, when the enemy "scans" the front with the help of drones at great depths, the importance of mobility and speed of movement increases significantly. Machines of such a "light" class today have every chance to gain attention from the military and grow into something more than a project of a small team of engineers.