Chechen leader's Cybertruck armed with heavy machine gun for front lines
Ramzan Kadyrov presented an armed Cybertruck, whose weaponry is quite conservative and arguably unworthy of Tesla's beast. Here is what has been mounted on it.
8:31 PM EDT, August 19, 2024
A video has appeared on social media showing a Cybertruck armed with a Kord heavy machine gun, caliber 0.5 in, driven by Ramzan Kadyrov. He announced that the armed Cybertruck is soon to head to the front lines, where it will most likely attract significant attention.
The deployed weaponry is surprisingly conservative, as heavy machine guns are standard for off-road vehicles used by various terrorist or rebel groups, including in Africa.
However, historically, more interesting weapons, such as the ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft guns, caliber 0.9 in, have often been mounted on heavily-used Toyotas. In the case of Ukrainian territorial defense, configurations with a pair of KPW heavy machine guns, caliber 0.6 in, or a single M75 anti-aircraft gun, caliber 0.8 in, have been present.
Such a configuration, placed in an unmanned turret supported by artificial intelligence algorithms, would be more fitting for the Cybertruck, whose 166 kWh battery would easily power such a setup for an extended period.
The heavy machine gun Kord — A modification of the old NSW
The heavy machine gun Kord is a modified NSW machine gun from the 1990s. This came about after Russia lost the NSW production line located in Kazakhstan. The new heavy machine gun was designed at the V.A. Degtyarev Plant, where many internal elements, such as the locking mechanism, were changed.
Externally, the Kord is similar to the NSW and can be distinguished by the fewer rivets on the receiver. The new model should theoretically have a muzzle brake, but some versions have a barrel with the old muzzle device. The weapon's weight is significant, amounting to 55 lbs, due to its powerful 0.5-inch caliber cartridge, which is capable of penetrating obstacles like sandbags or building walls without issue.
The most popular bullet, weighing around 740 grains (1.7 oz) and accelerated to about 2,690 ft/s, has a muzzle energy exceeding 11,800 ft-lbs, ensuring effective targeting of objects in buildings at distances over a mile. For comparison, bullets fired from rifles like the FN FAL have a muzzle energy of about 2,200 ft-lbs. This means that no bulletproof vest can protect from rounds of this type of weapon; only armored vehicles, and not all of them, can offer protection.
