Mil.ru via Wikimedia Commons

The Russian military continues to push the envelope in next generation combat technology, now promising a future fourth-generation body armor suit that will eventually protect its soldier against even the powerful .50 caliber round. Rostec, Russia’s state-owned defense conglomerate, announced that it is developing the fourth generation of its already formidable Sotnik, or ‘Centurion,’ battle armor.

Without delving into too many specifics in the press release, Rostec’s Bekkhan Ozdoev had previously stated, according to Task & Purpose, “that the fourth-generation Sotnik armor will consist of lightweight polyethylene fiber and armor plating that is engineered to withstand a direct shot from a .50 caliber M2 Browning.”

“The gear will not restrict movement and will allow you to take the extra weight necessary to perform special missions,” said Ozdoev.

Though a battle suit capable of deflecting a .50 caliber round seems like something out of science fiction, the Russian military is “totally serious about this,” said Samuel Bendett, a research analyst focused on Russian military developments at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA).

While the prospect of this futuristic combat armor is worrisome for U.S. and NATO defense planners, the current Russian third-generation Sotnik armor suit, planned for 2025 is impressive enough. This system consists of  “entirely new personal protective equipment and ammunition, offering light armor defense and increasing the soldier’s armament by several times,” according to the Jamestown Foundation.

The Sotnik kit is intended to replace the earlier Ratnik, or ‘Warrior’ package, already battle-tested in Syria. More than 300,000 sets of the various versions of the Ratnik combat gear have already been delivered to the Russian Ministry of Defense since 2013, according to the corporation.

And the current second generation Ratnik-2 system, notes Task & Purpose, is no slouch either. It consists of:

…10 subsystems and 59 individual components, includes modernized body armor designed to withstand 7.62mm rounds, a helmet with a special eye monitor outfitted with a thermal night vision monocular and flashlight, and integrated communication systems. It “also features a self-contained heater, a backpack, an individual water filter, a gas mask, and a medical kit,” according to Army Technology.

But the third-generation Sotnik system rolling out by 2025 will feature a number of impressive innovations, reports Jamestown Foundation:

…including anti-mine boots, an anti-thermal suit to “hide” soldiers from enemy detection, and an anti-radar element. The Sotnik will also integrate the wearer of the system with automated command and control and “micro-drones,” allowing gathered images to be transmitted in real time to the helmet visor or safety glasses. On the electronic glasses, the soldier will see commands, terrain maps and additional relevant data.

No timeline has been provided for the even more futuristic fourth-generation Sotnik ‘Centurion’ system to be deployed, though it will likely not be seen before 2030. Nevertheless, the Russian military appears to be far ahead of the U.S. – at least in terms of developing these advanced infantry combat systems.




Comments

  1. Now you know why President Trump gave more money to our military. We need the best for our Armed Forces and there is no excuse for not having it. God bless our military. Amen

    1. Dan Winright
      You are so biased you can not see the actual facts of anything. since the beginning of their USA there have been gays in the military and when you had the draft that put more gays in that same military, I served with gays in NAM and they served honorably, my Captain was as gay as they get and he was honored by the man in our outfit, mainly because he put his person in harms way to protect the troops . A persons sexuality has nothing to do with their ability to do their job in the Military, I hear the same type of BS when they started putting blacks in regular duties and then again when women were assigned jobs that had been men only jobs for a century.

      1. why should taxpayers pay for vounteers gender change surgery and therapies? what a joke…. dont ask dont tell worked just fine. bootygig, the fairy piano player, was a coffee gofer for officer corps.

  2. Stops a 50 cal huh? Stop or not, a 50 call will knock you on your ass and in the right place knock the wind right out of you and leave a bruise the size of a softball. Broken ribs a possibility.

    1. Like you said he probably would not be standing after he was hit. Glancing blow and hit your arm then you would probably not an arm left. I would have to see the body armor after it was shot by a 50 cal. Seeing is believing. Armor piercing too. Just can’t believe it. We use to find did bodies behind big logs that the 50 went through in Nam. One bad round the 50. Trump is the man.

  3. The “New Administration” is more interested in Funding abortions for Foreign Countries and Free Health Care for Central Americans that aren’t even here ……..Yet! but they feel like they’re Invited because of Beijing Biden

  4. I don’t believe this. A 50 cal bullet will still cause a tremendous amount of damage to a human just by the force of the bullet being stopped and the body absorbing the energy. We’re talking broken ribs, whiplash, internal organ damage from the shock so unless the body armor absorbs the energy, I’m calling BS.

  5. Now just see how that body armor against a drone fired missile, the Us has the most sophisticated drone system in the World according to Jane’s, who monitors and reports on all militaries in the World and as of right now the US is the most deadly military in the World, and has been since about 2000. nit picking small things does not give the entire picture of the US Military.

  6. Do you really think that Russia and China has or will ever have a technology advantage over the United States military? If you do you probably rode the short bus!

  7. WHY build body armor for humans when you can build a full robot solider that can do more than a human and if “Killed” it’s just a pile of parts. If their armor can defect a 50 cal. round, OK, but still be one hell of a shock to the body and might knock you back ten feet or break your neck or stop your heart. Will it stop a armor piercing or explosive round? Amazes me how much time and money is spent on killing each other and for what? Power / BS.

  8. too busy providing gender change surgery to recruits, transgender athrooms, 6119
    ‘history” and white race hatred

  9. Ever see anyone hit by 50cal.??? Non armoured targets(people)litterally explode!!!
    the armor required to stop 50cal. would be too heavy to carry!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *