Recently, the State Concern "Ukroboronprom" announced the localization of production for Canadian armored vehicles, Senator, from the company Roshel. It was previously reported that service centers for the repair and maintenance of these armored vehicles have been established in Ukraine.
Currently, there are over 1400 Senator units operating in Ukraine. In September 2024, the founder of Roshel stated that they produce nine Senators per day, which amounts to 63 vehicles weekly, 270 monthly, and 3285 annually. While not all of these are intended for Ukraine, as Roshel has other clients, this is still a significant number, and with the localization of production, that figure could increase considerably.
According to numerous testimonials from Ukrainian fighters, the Senator has repeatedly demonstrated excellent performance in combat conditions. It features ballistic protection rated at STANAG 2 (against armor-piercing bullets 7.62x39 from 30 meters) and STANAG 3 for mine protection (against 8 kg mines). The vehicle is equipped with a 6.7-liter V8 diesel engine, allowing the Senator to reach speeds of approximately 120 km/h on the road. Its capacity is 10 personnel.
Regarding armament, the Senator can be fitted with turrets or combat modules equipped with 7.62 mm, 12.7 mm machine guns, and automatic grenade launchers. Notably, at the MSPO exhibition in Poland, variants of the Senator were displayed with remotely controlled combat modules featuring KPVT and the GSh-23 aviation automatic cannon. These combat modules enable the Senator to function as a drone-fighter near the front lines.
It is important to note that Ukraine has several domestic manufacturers of wheeled armored vehicles, including "Ukrainian Armored Vehicles", "Praktika", "UkrArmoTech", and "Inguar", which assert that their production capacities can fully meet the demand of defense forces for vehicles of this class.
At the same time, Ukrainian vehicles have received an equal number of positive reviews from Ukrainian defenders. However, "Ukroboronprom" opted for the introduction of a foreign manufacturer into the relatively narrow market segment.