While Mahindra and Mahindra is a renowned passenger car manufacturer that offers well-sorted SUVs and MPVs, the company also builds products for use by India’s defence forces
The monstrous vehicle you see on this page is from the same manufacturer who builds the Mahindra XUV500, Scorpio and even the rather puny KUV100. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Mahindra ASLV, a purpose-built Armored Light Specialist Vehicle that has been specifically designed for the military and defence forces.
While the design of this vehicle guarantees tonnes of respect, what’s also important to highlight here that the aesthetics are modular in nature and can be easily updated to meet the exact requirements of the user. It also allows easy maintenance along with offering Ballistic protection up to stage B7 and STANAG Level II.
The Mahindra ASLV has been through some rigorous testing, which is not surprising if you consider the vehicle’s role in the defence force’s fleet of vehicles. The company has tested the ASLV against 7.62 x 51mm ball rounds along with testing it for protection against HE36 hand grenades. The Mahindra ALSV has also been put through many survivability tests and has been a part of Government Defence Force’s trail and test program that lasted for almost 18 months.
The Mahindra ASLV offers a load-carrying capacity of 400 kg and its modular design allows mobility in front, side and rear directions in accordance to STANAG Level I Ballistics and Blast levels. The ASLV has also been provided with large storage space for guns and arms and can accommodate four crew members. Moreover, the vehicle can be easily upgraded to STANAG Level II Ballistics.
The Mahindra ASLV is powered by a 3.2-litre, 6-cylinder STEYR engine that churns out a maximum power of 215HP and a peak torque of 500Nm. The engine comes mated to a 4-speed automatic transmission that sends power to all the four wheels.
At present, the Mahindra ASLV has a payload capacity of 1000kgs and comes with features like a central tyre inflation system. It also has an all-wheel independent suspension system that comes from Bilstein. There’s even a self-recovery winch.The Mahindra ASLV has a top speed of 120 kmph and it can accelerate from 0 to 60 kmph in roughly 12 seconds.
