EOS' R400 remote weapon system featured on Ukrainian Army TV

Watch this review of the Dutch YPR-765 armoured personnel carrier in a report by Junior Lieutenant Serhiy Lipka for Army TV.

Transcript translation

"Shooting can be done in both day and night conditions, and the weapon can rotate 360°, allowing firing in a full circle. This is the 4550 belt, which you load with 40 mm rounds. Yes, these are 40 mm combat cannons, which fit into this box and are loaded. They can be loaded manually or automatically from the inside. Shooting can be done in manual mode, with single shots or in bursts, controlled directly from the monitor module. All functions work as intended. This is how your system looks.

The combat workstation is equipped with a monitor directly connected to the weapon module. Firing is conducted directly through the joystick, which also controls the weapon. The joystick remains stationary, and control is executed through the buttons on the joystick. You can see this red safety tab here, which prevents accidental firing. This is used to activate the gun itself, the weapon module, in this setup. Once the rounds are loaded, they are ready to be fired. The loading process is automatic, allowing the rounds to be loaded seamlessly.

In this setup, the loading process has started, and the screen displays 'Loaded,' indicating that with ammunition available, we can now fire on command. The firing sequence initiates, and a shot is fired. There’s also a zoom function, allowing us to increase the view—so we can, for example, read numbers or inspect details closely. It automatically focuses, although it may be darker at times. If you say it’s getting darker, we can switch to night mode, especially when travelling at night. To do this, we press the buttons that activate the night mode.

So, we have night mode, which we can also adjust for contrast and brightness as needed. Look, right now, it’s comfortable, we’re sitting here talking, it's warm and cosy. But when you’re transporting infantry to the front lines, with everything firing around you—how safe do you feel? Or, maybe 'cosy' isn’t the right word, but do you feel secure at your workstation? How confident are you in this armour? Well, let me put it this way: you can trust the armour, but let’s hope it won’t be put to the test. That’s the first thing. Secondly, in situations like this, you need to keep a cool head. No matter how intense the firing gets, you must always keep your eyes on the screen and focus on what’s in front of you, regardless of the noise and chaos around. Your job is to aim and do what’s needed. In our terms, you need to ‘lay down fire’ to keep enemy heads down. The primary objective is to deploy troops and evacuate, for instance, wounded comrades, so we can quickly get them out and to safety. Speaking of speed, how fast can it go? 60? Yes, that’s the maximum speed in drills.

They say, for example, that the M113 is praised but also known for being very loud. Is this one similarly loud? Will they hear us from 100 km away? Well, maybe not from 100 km, but it is loud enough to be noticeable. That’s why we try to reach the target as quickly as possible and get the job done. We also activate electronic warfare (EW) systems, for example, to jam FPV drones. As for capacity, how many people can fit in here? Maximum capacity is eight, though it’s technically designed for seven, excluding the crew. But we’ve managed to fit eight people.

Fitting in that many people is manageable—it’s not too much. There was even a case where we packed 11 people in for an evacuation. That was at the start of the full-scale operations. But no, I didn’t start right at the beginning; I signed the contract about five months ago and joined with an assignment to the 100th Brigade with my fellow volunteers from Volyn. It’s great when there’s that regional connection. We all get each other’s quirks, you know? When I arrived, I knew about 85% of the people there, people I’d grown up with. That’s the best recruiting strategy—when all your neighbours are joining up, and you think, 'Well, it’s boring staying here alone; I’d better go too.' That’s just how it is."