The Nasu (acronym for Nauha-Sisu, en, Track Sisu; also meaning " Piglet" in

colloquial Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...

Finnish) is a tracked articulated, all-terrain transport vehicle developed by

Sisu Auto Sisu Auto is a truck manufacturer based in Raseborg, Finland. Its name comes from the Finnish word '' sisu'' meaning guts, grit and determination. Sisu Auto has a subsidiary company, "Sisu Defence", producing high mobility tactical vehicles f ...

for the

Finnish Army The Finnish Army ( Finnish: ''Maavoimat'', Swedish: ''Armén'') is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: the infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraf ...

. It consists of two units, with all four tracks powered. It can carry up to 17 people, although the trailer unit can be adapted for different applications (see Variants section). There are two main versions, the NA-140 BT and the NA-110. The Nasu was tested in 1985, and the next year 11 pre-production units were ordered. Since then, more than five hundred have been manufactured to equip the armies of India, Turkey and Finland. Although it looks externally like the

Bandvagn 206 Bandvagn 206 (Bv 206) (meaning ''"Tracked Vehicle 206"'' in English) is a tracked articulated, all-terrain carrier developed by Hägglunds (now part of BAE Systems Platforms & Services) for the Swedish Army. It consists of two units, with all f ...

, which also is in Finnish Army use, it is an entirely new design, and almost 1 meter longer and heavier. It has better payload-carrying capability than the Bv 206. The Nasu is designed to carry troops and equipment through snow and bog-lands in northern Finland. For this, it is equipped with four wide (62 cm) powered rubber tracks. The low

ground pressure Ground pressure is the pressure exerted on the ground by the tires or tracks of a motorized vehicle, and is one measure of its potential mobility, especially over soft ground. It also applies to the feet of a walking person or machine. Ground pr ...

enables the Nasu to cope with a wide range of difficult conditions. It is also fully amphibious, with a speed in water of up to when driven by its tracks. The total load capacity is and a trailer with a weight of up to can also be towed behind the second compartment. More than 500 vehicles of this type have been manufactured and it is used as a personnel carrier and a weapons platform (for

BGM-71 TOW The BGM-71 TOW ("Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided") is an American anti-tank missile. TOW replaced much smaller missiles like the SS.10 and ENTAC, offering roughly twice the effective range, a more powerful warhead, and a greatly ...

anti-tank guided missiles, 120 mm mortars). In basic infantry versions, a roof-mounted 12.7 mm NSV anti-aircraft machine gun is used for close-range anti-aircraft protection. There are also command, signals and ambulance variants of the vehicle.

Variants

;NA-140 BT: Manufactured between 1986 and 1991. Powered by a Rover 3,5 (3,9) V-8 gasoline engine (142 kW/280 Nm). Weight: , payload: , length: 7.55 m, width: , height: , complement: 5 (including driver) in frontal unit and up to 12 in tail unit. ;NA-110:Manufactured between 1992 and 1994. Powered by a GM 6.2 L Heavy Duty V-8 diesel engine (113 kW/346 Nm). Weight: , payload: , length: 7.67 m, width: , height: , complement: 5 (including driver) in frontal unit and up to 12 in tail unit. ;NA-111GT: A signal station version. ;NA-120 GT ;NA-120 GT KV1: Armoured variant used in UN-operations. ;NA-122: A version that carries a 120 mm mortar 120 KRH 92 and 14 rounds on its tail unit. Called Krh-TeKa in Finnish Army service. It steers by the use of a hydraulic ram mounted on the point of articulation. The ram is operated by a steering wheel in the same way as driving a regular car. It is the only type of tracked vehicle that can be driven on (UK) public roads without a category H track licence as it does not need the use of steering levers as in a regular tank.

Operators

Current operators

. The

Kainuu Brigade Kainuu brigade (Finnish Kainuun prikaati) is a Finnish Army unit situated in Kajaani. The brigade is one of the biggest army units, training approximately 4000 conscripts annually. The Kainuu Brigade is one of the three readiness brigades in the ...

and the

Jaeger Brigade The Jaeger Brigade (''Jääkäriprikaati'') is a unit of the Finnish Army. The unit is located in Sodankylä and Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland, some north of the Arctic Circle. The brigade trains 1600 conscripts per year. The brigade has two main ...

employ the vehicle as their main transport vehicle. Further, most of the other brigades have a few vehicles each. ;:

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

(27th Alpine Brigade). ;:

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

Mexican Army The Mexican Army ( es, Ejército Mexicano) is the combined land and air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army. The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National ...

Operated by the Mountain Brigade

Civilian operators

;: Woodlands Ministry (30 vehicles).Valtiopäivät 1993, Kirjallinen kysymys 633
;: :*Three (3) Nasus are used at the Finnish Antarctic research station Aboa. :*Several Fire Departments in Finland are using the vehicle. ;:

Gendarmerie General Command The Gendarmerie General Command ( tr, Jandarma Genel Komutanlığı) is the national Gendarmerie force of the Republic of Turkey. It is a service branch of the Turkish Ministry of Interior responsible for the maintenance of the public order in a ...

(47 vehicles). ; :One Nasu is currently in use by the Davis County Search and Rescue team in Davis County, Utah. The Nasu was donated by the Diesel Brothers and was featured in the Discovery Channel series of the same name.

References

{{Reflist Nasu Post–Cold War military vehicles of Finland Two-section tracked all-terrain vehicles Vehicles introduced in 1985 Military vehicles introduced in the 1980s

Variants

Operators

Current operators

Civilian operators

See also

References