Kyiv-based design and production enterprise “INGUAR” LLC is developing the INGUAR light armored vehicle of the MRAP class according to NATO standards. The project is financed by Ukrainian entrepreneur Mykola Udyansky.
The idea of producing Ukrainian armored cars belongs to the young team “INGUAR”. For the most part, the guys are graduates of the Kyiv Polytechnic University. The team members are from 22 to 30 years old and before the large-scale war they were engaged in tuning and repairing cars, as well as creating racing cars for various types of competitions. In parallel, the young engineers retrofitted armored vehicles, manufactured individual components and parts.
– How did the “INGUAR” project come about? How many people work on the project?
Artem Yushchuk (founder of “INGUAR”): The idea of creating our own armored vehicle appeared to us three years ago. It was then, on October 20, 2020, that the company was founded and gradual work on the project began.
After February 24, 2022, work on the project entered a new phase, and confidence in the relevance of the project did not need confirmation.
Literally translated, the company name means “on guard”, that is, on guard of the borders, protecting the Motherland. And the logo itself was drawn by me at one lecture at KPI in a regular notebook. Later, I transferred it to the program in which we created drawings. Since then, it has not changed.
Currently, the team consists of 15 people, from young engineers to craftsmen with extensive experience in the field of mechanical engineering. We are currently registering our own trademark “Inguar”, but we are having some problems. We recently received an official notice that the name of our company is consonant with another company, “Jaguar”. We are defending our rights, since the names have a radically different meaning, and the activities of the companies are completely different. We are engaged in bureaucracy, which takes up a lot of useful time.
– What stage of development is the machine currently at?
– Immediately after the company was founded, we began to develop the project banally on a marker board. We discussed the concept for a long time, were looking for differences that would make the car unique and truly better than its competitors. When it became clear what kind of car it would be and how it would work, we started looking for investors. We met with the famous Ukrainian businessman Mykola Udyansky, discussed all the details and agreed on three stages of investment.
The first stage of investment includes 20 million UAH for the development of a prototype car, which is exactly where we are now. We are assembling the prototype at our production facilities.
These 20 million UAH are the development of a prototype of the machine, that is, the costs for one first copy. In serial production, the cost will be less – 10 million UAH. Serial production means 500 jobs, not 15-20 as now. And when entering the international market, the number of jobs should increase to 800-1000.
– What makes your car unique?
– We differ from most of our competitors in that we do not buy a ready-made car and re-equip it, but rather buy individual parts and assemble our own car.
Often, to make it easier, companies buy ready-made chassis and install an armored capsule on them. We have our own chassis and our own capsule. We do this primarily for unification, since we want to create a “family” of four-wheeled (for transporting personnel with light weapons) and six-wheeled vehicles (for example, for MLRS). Thus, the rear of the vehicle can be interchangeable (one axle or two).
We try to organize production in such a way that we purchase as much of what we need in Ukraine as possible, and we order the main components in Europe.
We plan to present the prototype by the end of this year and submit it for state testing.
– What can the machine you are developing do? For which troops can it be used, how reliable and powerful is it?
– The equipment we are developing can be used for different branches of the military. In particular, we consult with the Alpha special unit, the GUR of the Ministry of Defense, and the Ground Forces. Modern warfare dictates new rules, so we try to do it not according to operational-tactical requirements written according to Soviet manuals 20 years ago, but according to direct wishes and feedback from the military. Unfortunately, these wishes, at the time of designing the machine, had not yet been written down and approved on paper, so we write down these requirements directly from the mouths of our military, often in the mode of long dialogues and brainstorming.
The vehicles are made to protect personnel. We make them according to NATO standards for armor and military protection. This standard determines how much of what kind of explosives that get under the wheels can withstand the vehicle and what kind of bullet the armor can withstand. This standard is a level higher than what is currently done in Ukraine. We also consult with specialists from the research institute under the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. At the same time, we conduct tests to see if we are doing everything correctly.
– How much does it cost to produce one such machine? Do you plan to go into mass production, or will these be one-off individual orders?
– One machine costs about 20 million UAH. We want to reach serial production. The second stage of investment is up to 100 machines. The average annual capacity of similar production facilities is 200 machines per year. We will strive for this.
– Does the state fund this kind of development? Do you have state funding?
– The state does not finance defense developments for private enterprises. In wartime, no research and development of this type is carried out at all. Therefore, everything is done with the funds of private investors. Part of it is our company’s own funds (mine and my partner, Oleksandr Vovolka), earned in peacetime. Part of it is the funds of Mr. Mykola Udyansky.
It is easy to work with Mr. Mykola. We met via the Internet. I wrote to Mykola, sent a presentation. He called me within a few hours. We quickly got along. The only thing we agreed on for a long time was the place of production. In the end, we decided that it should be Ukraine. If the need arises in the future, we will consider the United Arab Emirates or Europe as options.
– Mykola, what prompted you to believe these guys and invest in their idea?
Mykola Udyansky: First of all, I am a Ukrainian, and secondly, I am a businessman. I analyze the current needs of our state and see that the defense market is currently promising and in demand. I want Ukrainians to be among the leaders in the production of modern weapons, so I decided to invest in the production of military equipment. Therefore, when Artem wrote to me, I did not hesitate for a long time.
– An immodest question, how much money do you plan to invest in this project?
– Our financing will be in three stages: the first stage – 20 million hryvnias for the development of a prototype. They have already been received by the guys. The second stage – 200 million for the organization of serial production per year. The third stage of capital investments will include up to a billion hryvnias.
What else do I want to say? Of course, every investment should bring profit, not without it. But now for me, more important than providing the front, of course, is supporting the youth and specifically in Ukraine. Look, these guys are young and talented. If they don’t have support here, they will quickly find a place for themselves abroad and Ukraine will lose its best brains again, this time.
Second: the production of equipment is both new jobs, which Ukraine needs so much, and taxes to the Ukrainian budget. Third: such production is knowledge-intensive, which means there is room for Ukrainian scientists to develop and work. And fourth: these guys are the first, but I think not the only ones, whom I will support. I am considering several more promising, in my opinion, Ukrainian defense projects, where to invest money too.
Legal support for the project is provided by Yevgeny Pronin, managing partner of Pronin & Partners JSC, one of the leading law firms in Ukraine.
Yevhen Pronin: We are “for” the Ukrainian military market, for its development and promotion. Therefore, our association fully supports the guys from “INGUAR”. We are confident that they will fulfill all their obligations to their business partners on time and in full, make the project profitable and enter international markets with it. We, for our part, will continue to support the company and help solve legal problems.
