The Ukrainian military appears to have converted a Soviet-era sedan into a machine gun-toting tactical vehicle amid the ongoing Russian invasion.
A video uploaded by Ukraine Weapons Tracker shows a Soviet-era GAZ-24-10 Volga mounted with a KPVT 14.5-millimeter heavy machine gun.
The improvised tactical vehicle includes off-road tires and a bull bar up front to make it suitable for battlefield deployment.
Another video uploaded on Twitter demonstrates how the machine gun’s remote-control mechanism works when not mounted on the vehicle.
The gun is only attached to a metal base, suggesting that it can also be integrated with other vehicles.
Another view of this ingenious improvised solution! pic.twitter.com/4VAEkaVcKA
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 8, 2022
The KPVT Machine Gun
The KPVT heavy machine gun mounted on the sedan first entered service in the mid-20th century.
It was deemed too heavy for infantry operations and later taken out of production.
The weapon was then redesigned for anti-aircraft and light anti-armor missions due to being larger than .50 caliber machine guns.
Although it is unclear where and how Kyiv acquired the KPVT, the Ukrainian military has been salvaging weapons from destroyed Russian armored vehicles.
Improvisation Amid Conflict
The Ukrainian armed forces has improvised other pairings of weapons and vehicles to defend the country.
Earlier this month, it was reported that the Ukrainian military has turned donated Fiat Fullback 4×4 pickup trucks into mobile surface-to-air missile systems.
It has also integrated Stugna-P anti-tank guided missile systems into buggy-type all-terrain vehicles.
The improvisation provides increased mobility for the missiles in engaging ground vehicles and low-flying aircraft.
Additionally, Ukraine Weapons Tracker published a video of Brimstone precision-guided missiles fired from a truck-mounted improvised launcher.
#Ukraine: Finally, we can take a look at the ground launching platform for Brimstone missiles – it was developed by Britain in a very short time especially for the Ukrainian army. The missiles are already used on the front line, however the event we see is likely to be training. pic.twitter.com/OhIJZNMiwZ
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) May 12, 2022
