Mahindra ALSV, the armoured vehicle ready to go into action

Some brands seem exotic to us because we rarely see them on our roads, yet the presence of their distributors in countries as far from India, the country of origin, as ours is real. Mahindra is a manufacturer of vehicles of every kind, from fashionable crossovers, such as the budget SUV KUV 1oo NXT, to military vehicles such as the brutal Mahindra ALSV.

The history of Mahindra is also closely tied to the military and defence industry: in 1947 it obtained the licence to assemble the Jeep Willys, the forefather of all the Jeep and, above all, of all the off-road vehicles adapted and capable of surviving in battle, in Indian territory, which later gave rise to the Mahindra Roxor.

So, if the past has been marked by the production of war vehicles, the future cannot be any different, and this armoured vehicle, whose acronym ALSV stands for Armored Light Specialist Vehicle and which is essentially a light armoured vehicle, is the transport and defence tankette that joins a long catalogue of machines ranging from armoured SUVs for private use to tankettes used by the United Nations in military deployments.

Mahindra’s subsidiary dedicated to producing this type of vehicle is based in the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, and presents the Mahindra ALSV as a military model intended for reconnaissance patrols in high-risk areas, special forces operations and rapid response teams.

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To do so, its assembly is based on a modular platform housing a diesel engine with 6 cylinders, 3.2 litres, a turbo delivering 215 CV and 500 Nm, paired with a 4- or 6-speed automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive with independent-axle suspension, and BF Goodrich A/T 318/80 run-flat tyres with a range of up to 50 km, mounted on 17-inch rims.

Besides being able to carry between 6 and 8 occupants, it can likewise carry up to 1,000 kg, accelerate to 120 km/h and perform a 0 to 60 km/h sprint in 12 seconds.

The maximum level of protection of this armoured vehicle corresponds to the CEN B7 STANAG Level standards, as defined by NATO, which means it protects against 7.62×51 mm bullet impacts and HE36 hand grenades. Among the additional elements that can be fitted are a grenade launcher or a machine gun.