Indian Army has inducted first batch of new 4×4 vehicles Toyota Hilux Mountain off-Road Vehicles (MRVs) and Mahindra Scorpio light utility vehicles (LUVs) to enhance mobility in difficult terrains and high altitude areas of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
After replacing the vintage gypsy with specifi-cally customized indigenous Tata Safari, and sus-tained testing of over two months under controlled conditions, Northern Command of the Indian Army has received the first batch of Toyata Hiluxs.
“Hilux was put through over 2 months of extensive and rigorous evaluation by the Northern Command of the Indian Army. The Hilux successfully performed in extreme weather and rough terrains – ranging from an altitude of 13000ft to sub-zero temperatures,” Indian officials said.
This development came a week after Mahindra and Mahindra delivered an unknown number of its iconic Scorpio with army-specific customization to the army, against the order of 1,470 units.
“Army also inducted the first batch of an un-known number of Scorpios, Mahindra said in a social media post in mid-July,” officials said, adding, “Mahindra received an order for 1,470 Scorpios from the Indian Army in January.”
In the past, the Indian Army has procured the Tata Xenon pick up, the Tata Safari Storme and the Maruti Suzuki Gypsy – the latter being the favourite of the armed forces for almost two decades.—KMS
