The DRDO Armoured Ambulance is a tracked vehicle based on "Sarath" ("Chariot of Victory") Indian license-produced variant of
BMP-2
The BMP-2 (''Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty'', , literally "combat machine/vehicle (of the) infantry") is an amphibious infantry fighting vehicle introduced in the 1980s in the Soviet Union, following on from the BMP-1 of the 1960s.
Development hist ...
. Designed by the
Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment
Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) is a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Located at Avadi, in Chennai, India. It is the main DRDO lab involved in the development of Armoured fight ...
(CVRDE), a branch of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (
DRDO
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) (IAST: ''Raksā Anūsandhān Evam Vikās Sangaṭhan'') is the premier agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, ...
), it is manufactured at the
Ordnance Factory Medak Ordnance Factory Medak (OFMK) (Hindi: आयुध निर्माणी मेदक), previously called Ordnance Factory Project Medak (OFPM) while in its development stage, is a factory owned by Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited , a company tha ...
.
Equipment
It has in-built medical facilities including continuous ECG monitoring, a ventilator, a suction unit to remove unwanted fluids, a DC refrigerator for preserving drugs, and an air-conditioner with optional heating facility.
Seating configuration
It has a seating capacity of 12 persons including two crew, two medical attendants and eight sitting patients, but this can vary depending on the number of stretcher patients, four stretcher patients only or two stretcher and four sitting patients.
It retains the turret but without the gun or smoke grenade launchers. The ambulance can cross a variety of terrains and even traverse water with the same mobility as Sarath Infantry Combat Vehicles. Its features include a special blower and absorbent filter for nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) protection, and external and internal radio communication for navigation.
Development and deployment
The first prototype was ready in December 2005; it had to undergo several changes before a trial in September 2006. Three years and 56 modifications later, on 21 August 2009, 10 vehicles were rolled out ready to be used by the Indian Army. The Indian Army has placed an indent for 275 armoured tracked ambulances. It is also Similar to BMP-2
See also
*
BMP-2
The BMP-2 (''Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty'', , literally "combat machine/vehicle (of the) infantry") is an amphibious infantry fighting vehicle introduced in the 1980s in the Soviet Union, following on from the BMP-1 of the 1960s.
Development hist ...
External links
*http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article7118.ece
*https://web.archive.org/web/20101225052559/http://www.drdo.gov.in/drdo/labs/CVRDE/English/index.jsp?pg=achieve.jsp
Tracked vehicles
Research and development in India
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