While the world's attention has been drawn to recent Russian military involvement in Ukraine, and more recently in Syria, a far longer-running "hot war" has been taking place in the north Caucasus region in the Russian republics of Chechnya and Dagestan, where for nearly two decades, Muslim radicals have violently attempted to create an independent Islamic republic, leading to frequent confrontations between Islamic terrorist and the Russian military.
And it is in Dagestan, during the latest Russian special forces operation against local terrorist, that the Russian military has unveiled its latest pieces of military equipment. As RT reports, the "Falkatus" and "Tiger" assault vehicles, which were top secret until only recently, were finally caught in action, much to everyone’s amazement.
A better name for the latter vehicles however may be "Batmobile" because as the photos and videos below show, the developers appear to have been inspired by Bruce Wayne's armored toy.
The first confirmed sighting of this assault vehicle took place during the special operation conducted on the outskirts of Makhachkala earlier this week resulted which led to the neutralization of three members of a terrorist cell. It was then that the world received its first glimpse of two state-of-the-art armored multipurpose SUVs that military enthusiasts and bloggers have been speculating about for years.
The new version of the Russian assault armored vehicle "Tiger", that had never previously been seen in photos or video footage, was observed equipped with a turret which offers a 360 degree view. “Tiger” was designed specifically for the Federal Security Service (FSB) special forces for assault operations in dense urban areas. During the special op, it fired a missile or a smoke grenade at terrorists who had been holed up in a mansion.
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— TodaysMilitary.ru (@Todays_Military) April 15, 2016
In addition to “Tiger” the footage also shows the “Falkatus” armored vehicle in action. No one knows the exact characteristics of the new top secret vehicle, but experts believe that it can comfortably accommodate 10 people.
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— Alexey (@Alekzzzzz) April 14, 2016
The V-shaped body that has been compared to the Batmobile has armored glass windows and windshield to better dissipate blast waves from explosions. The car is also fitted with Class 6a armor for better ballistic protection. The vehicle also has firing openings in the sides and rear doors. The specifications of “Falkatus” remain secret but bloggers believe that the 12 ton vehicle has 730 horsepower under the hood which allows it to reach speeds of up to 200 kmh.
The "Falkatus" made its debut to the public when President Vladimir Putin inspected the FSB’s latest special operation vehicles in Moscow in February.
The president also inspected a giant KAMAZ-produced "Viking" armored vehicle, based on the KAMAZ-4911 Extreme, originally designed for international racing events such as the Dakar Rally, and an armored dune buggy featuring rally-car seats.
Here is the first every video catching the Russian batmobile in action: