Belarus received batch of CS/VN3 armored vehicles 22306171

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Defence & Security News - Belarus
 
 
Belarus received first batch of CS/VN3 armored vehicles donated by China
According to the agreement signed between the Belarusian Defence Ministry and Ministry of National Defence of the People's Republic of China on the provision of gratuitous military-technical assistance, the supply of a new batch of equipment and assets started from June 21. China provided the Belarusian Armed Forces with the up-to-date CS/VN3 armored vehicles produced in Chongqing.
     

Belarusian Armed Forces' first batch of China-made CS/VN3 armoured vehicles
(Credit: Belarusian Ministry of Defense)
     
Last week, the Belarusian servicemen, who were trained to maintain and operate these samples at the Chinese plant based in Chongqing, returned from the People's Republic of China.

Belarus will receive a total of CS/VN3 armored vehicles, said the Belarusian Deputy Minister of Defense for Armament Sergei Simonenko. The first vehicles will first equip the special operations forces.

Let us recall that this supply of gratuitous military-technical assistance from Chine is not the first one. In spring of 2015, Chine supplied the Belarusian Armed Forces with the FAW HongQi L5 (“Red Banner”) grand vehicles, while a few years earlier – with the DongFeng Mengshi EQ2050 cross-country vehicles known as “Bogatyr”.

The CS/VN3 has a maximum speed of 100 km/h thanks to its 245 hp turbo diesel engine. It features an operational range of 800 km. The CS/VN3 can carry up to 10 soldiers, including crew. It can be armed with a roof-mounted turret and smoke grenade launchers.

A light armoured infantry fighting variant of the vehicle, the CS/VN3C, was unveiled during Zhuhai Air Show 2014. This version, developed for the Chinese Airborn Troops, features a one-man turret is mounted at the top center of the hull which is armed with a 30mm cannon and a 5.8mm coaxial machine. A range of three smoke grenade dischargers are mounted on each side of the turret. The vehicle can be also armed with anti-tank guided missile red Arrow 73C.