Ukraine unveils Mbombe 6 with Spys ROWS

Mbombe 6 with Spys ROWS seen in Ukraine. (General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine)

A video released by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on 18 April shows a South African Mbombe 6 6×6 armoured vehicle equipped with a Ukrainian remotely operated weapon system (ROWS).

The video shows the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, being presented with and inspecting several armoured vehicles, including the Mbombe, at an undisclosed location.

The Mbombe 6 is a wheeled armoured personnel carrier (APC) designed and manufactured in South Africa by Paramount Group, as well as under licence in India, Jordan, and Kazakhstan. The vehicle comes with an all-welded steel armour construction providing protection against small-arms fire up to NATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG) 4569 Level 4 standards.

The vehicle features a mine-resistant honeycomb flat-bottomed hull design, which lowers its overall height and provides protection against a 10 kg anti-tank mine detonated underneath the hull or a wheel station.

The Mbombe 6 featured in the video is fitted with a Spys ROWS armed with a ZTM-1 30 mm automatic cannon, a PKT 7.62 mm co-axial machine gun, and an AGS-17 30 mm automatic grenade launcher. Two launch tubes for an anti-tank guided missile can also be mounted on the weapon station, although these appeared to be empty on the example shown in the video.

Paramount officials confirmed to Janes on 22 April that the vehicle displayed in the video is a demonstration vehicle that was shipped to Ukraine prior to the war with all required export permits. The permit for the vehicle was recently extended until June 2025.