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India’s response to the Hummer. Presenting the M&M Axe.
Image from Militaryphotos.net
Mahindra and Mahindra recently tested the Mahindra Axe, a multipurpose vehicle developed to replace the againg “Windy 505″ for the Indian Army.
Raj Khalsa, over at Militaryphotos has a detailed article about the Axe.
Developed in a mere 36 months to fulfill the Indian Army “Light Specialist Vehicle” a la ‘mini-Humvee’ requirement, the rugged Mahindra Axe, unlike for example, the Arjun MBT, had Indian army involved in its design process from the get go.
Specs haven’t been made public yet, but it has been tested with a variety of indigenous engines raging from 150hp to 300hp to 400hp. The Axe will come in both open and hard-top versions, capable of mounting light artillery.
It’s currently undergoing army user trials in various terrains and weather conditions. The vehicle is stated for production in 2008, and will be produced in large amounts to sufficiently “dot the armyscape.” Later, a civilian spin-off of the model will be sold
The IA officially confirmed previous news reports and confirmed the whole program a couple days ago without officially ‘confirming’ it by loudly and visibly “road testing” two prototypes not so discretely affixed with “ARMY TRIAL” signs in the Gurgaon suburb of Delhi, which were caught on camera by car enthusiasts
Brigadier Khutub A Hai, CEO, Mahindra defence systems, confirmed that a civilian version will soon be in the showrooms.
What makes this piece of news interesting is the fact that Mahindra already has a presence in the US and if the Axe takes off, it might serve the huge “wanna-drive-military-vehicles on road” market here.
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Funny though, is it just me or does fact that the half-hidden three-quarter profile of the Axe (as shown in the fourth picture of this page) resemble the Humvee’s.
On a related note I have always wondered about the resemblence that the Tata Sumo (and the Tempo Trax) share with the older versions of the the G Class Merc SUV aka Geländewagen! I know Telco once produced heavy trucks (in the 60s and 70s) under license/collaboration from Mercedes Benz under the Tata Mercedes Benz (TMB) name, but haven’t been able to figure out if there was MB’s input into the Sumo (or the Trax for that matter).
I hope they bring out a sleeker version for the police too, though the ‘police jeep’ has moved in some parts of India with some solid SUV type vehicles, desi humvees will probably be needed for mob control and riot control…. I wish the civilian version is priced high enough as to not overburden our roads with gas guzzling indie-humvees…..
Nice looking set of wheels - industrial chic.
I read the linked article as well. 100 HP sounds a bit under-powered for a military vehicle.
Btw, is it just me, or does the Mahindra logo look like a rip-off of the Oldsmobile logo (http://encyclopedia.classicoldsmobile.com/gallery/newrocket1.jpg)?
BPSK
How practical is 100 hp for such a vehicle? I mean I would think you want to use it to tow another car or something if it breaks down.
Hmmm. Interesting. Also a welcome change from trying to build these at the DRDO establishments.
All it needs is Rajnikant dressed up like Mr. T standing in the front passenger seat.
Very very true, but infortunately he does not do ad’s. Anantha our Super Star Expert will be able to give us more info on that one.
That is just funny.