The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an international organisation of seven nations of South Asia and South East Asia, housing 1.5 billion people and having a combined gross domestic product of $3.5 trillion (2018). As reported by AutocarProNews Desk, Tata Motors will display its two flagship vehicles that have substantial export potential at the BIMSTEC Nations Summit 2018 in Pune: the 4X4 Mine Protected Vehicle (MPV) and the WhAP8x8 ICV (Co-developed with the DRDO).
Tata Motors' Mine-Protected Vehicle (Picture source: Tata Motors)
Tata Motors has recently signed major military vehicle supply contracts with BIMSTEC nations that include the Tata Xenon GS 800 to Myanmar, Tata Mine Protected Vehicles for UNIFIL (Lebanon), MONUSCO (Congo) and MINUSMA (Mali) Missions, Tata 2.5T GS LPTA 715 4x4 to Myanmar and Thailand, Tata 5T GS LPTA 1628 4x4 to Nepal and mission-specific logistic vehicles for UN Peacekeeping missions sent by these countries.
According to Vernon Noronha, vice-president, Defence & Government Business, Tata Motors, said, “Our defence mobility portfolio has grown from strength to strength, offering a range of combat, armoured, combat support and logistics vehicles that have been popular in supporting the military, paramilitary and police forces in their multifarious operations. Our international customers are aware that Tata military vehicles in use by the Indian Armed Forces are inducted by them, only after gruelling pre-purchase testing (spread over years in different terrain and climate conditions) to exacting military standards. This also helps Tata Motors build confidence with foreign militaries on durability and maintainability aspects. The Tata 4X4 Mine Protected Vehicle (MPV) and the WhAP 8x8 Infantry Combat Vehicle are a validation of our truly indigenous expertise to offer mobility solutions for counter insurgency and combat operations of Security forces in India and abroad”.
The flagship defence product WhAP8x8 (Wheeled Armoured Amphibious Platform) is India’s first infantry combat vehicle, designed for optimised survivability, all-terrain performance and increased lethalness and has been jointly developed with the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Tata Motors says it is the first private sector OEM in India to have developed a WhAP in a record period of 18 months. It is a fully loaded vehicle with safety features such as blast protection, ballistic protection and NBC protection. Modulatory and scalability features help this vehicle to be easily modified to cater to various terrain conditions and missions. A low maintenance vehicle, with a seating capacity of 10+2 people, the WhAP8x8 comes in various variants such as Armoured Fighting vehicles, CBRN vehicle, Recce & Support vehicle, Medical Evacuation vehicle, Engineer Squad vehicle, Mortar Carrier, Commander’s vehicle and Anti-Tank Guided Missile vehicle.
The Mine Protected Vehicle (MPV) with 4x4 configuration (above) serves as a mine-proof troop transport vehicle, a law enforcement special response vehicle used to counter insurgency, or an escort protection vehicle. The vehicle comes with best-in-class ground clearance for enhanced cross-country mobility. The high power-to-weight ratio gives enhanced acceleration and maximum speed for quicker response during emergency situation.
Tata Motors, which has been developing and supplying vehicle to the Indian armed forces since 1958, has till now deliver over 150,000 different vehicles to the Indian military, paramilitary forces and police establishments. In addition, Tata Motors is also a leading supplier of defence solutions to SAARC, ASEAN and African regions and specialist vehicles for UN peacekeeping missions.
