POSSIBILITIES OF APPLICATION OF COMPLETED REALITY TECHNOLOGY DURING MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR OF ARMED TECHNOLOGY
Authors: Kolomiets M. , Bondarev I. 
Published: June 2022

The war with Russia, which our country is waging for the sixth year in a row, gave impetus to the deep modernization of existing weapons and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the introduction of completely new troops, such as armored personnel carrier BTR-4; tactical combat wheeled vehicle «Dozor-B» and «Spartan», etc. These models were created taking into account the modern requirements for the base chassis and using modern technologies that focus on electronics and automation, respectively, significantly increased the complexity of their maintenance and repair. This, combined with the need to carry out maintenance and repairs in isolation from the permanent deployment of units in conditions as close as possible to the combat zone, where resources are severely limited, creates serious problems for technical personnel. The main question is how to give these specialists the competence to perform the basic tasks necessary to return the model of armored weapons and equipment back into operation.
The experience of combat use of armored weapons and equipment in the anti-terrorist operation indicates a low level of professional training of crew members of combat vehicles, which does not meet modern requirements and does not ensure the implementation of combat missions assigned to units in full. And the complexity of designing armored weapons and equipment and computerizing them usually deprives unit commanders and crews of their combat vehicles to quickly and efficiently perform repairs and maintenance in isolation from permanent locations, as they require special diagnostic equipment and highly qualified specialists. This is confirmed by the examples of the first experience of using armored personnel carriers BTR-4 in 2014 by units of the National Guard, which had to leave cars that for various reasons could not move on their own, destroying them without even finding out the cause of the malfunction. Thus, even one of the samples of the armored personnel carriers BTR-4 fell into the hands of Russian mercenaries.
An attempt has been made to analyze possible ways of using augmented reality technology (AR technology) to create a set of software and hardware that will allow tactical commanders and crews of combat vehicles, even without the participation of specialists, or remotely, to detect and troubleshoot in different operating conditions and with different levels of technical training.
The advent of augmented reality technology has every chance to revolutionize the process of maintenance and repair, as well as operation. The new and unique additional opportunities offered by these technologies will significantly affect how and at what level these actions are carried out. Involved in an integrated process of maintenance, repair, operation and supply of military equipment, these technologies will increase the independence and self-sufficiency of advanced forces deployed in isolation from stationary diagnostic and repair tools. As a result - faster repair work and, accordingly, faster return of equipment or weapons to combat units. In addition, it will increase the number of forces and resources available to perform operational tasks. This new approach to maintenance and repair is becoming a factor in increasing combat capability and combat power, which can positively affect the ratio of victories and defeats in modern military conflicts.
Keywords: armored vehicles, maintenance, repair of armored vehicles, augmented reality.