The Oncilla: Designed in Ukraine, Built in Poland
Recently the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence announced its Directorate of Intelligence received a modernized Oncilla armored car paid for by donations from Trans Select, a Polish company founded by a citizen of Ukraine to acquire equipment.
The vehicle was originally a Ukrainian design known as Dozor-B that began development in 2004. At the time the state-owned defense company Ukroboronprom suffered major production issues and by 2016 only 10 had been delivered. Those that were delivered proved unsatisfactory so production was outsourced to a Cypriot company Lacenaire in 2019. They modified the design including the addition of a new Italian engine and contracted the Polish heavy construction equipment manufacturer MISTA to produce it. The Oncilla is the result of this and 30 were delivered before the war began in 2022. “There are 30 such machines that are already fighting. They showed themselves very well on the battlefield, saving lives,” said Viktor Levchenko, a representative of the “Beryl” design bureau.
The vehicle has proven very successful in performing utility tasks including scouting and casualty evacuation. It can fit 6 personnel in the back along with a gunner, driver, and commander for a total of 9. Oncilla’s armor is rated at STANAG level 2 which protects it against 7.62x39mm AP at 30 meters and against 6kg mine blasts. Additional armor plates can be added to increase this to level 3 protection which is rated to 7.62x51mm AP.
Oncilla weighs 8600kg and is powered by an Iveco NEF 4 ENTC engine which produces 210 hp. For armament, the vehicle hosts a 12.7mm NSV machine gun in a remote weapon station that includes a thermal sight. Another thermal optic is provided for the driver to allow for complete blackout operations at night.