The US Army is about to replace its 4x4 vehicles and it seems that the choice for the new 'fast and light tactic transportation' will fall on the 'same' type of buggy that a civilian could find in a common American dealer. The news agency Bloomberg reported the news that during the "Joint forcible-entry exercise" to be held in Poland next month, the 600 paratroopers belonging to the 82ª Airborne division will evaluate the Polaris MRZR: a UTV (Utility Terrain Vehicle) Side-by-side (SxS) with a power of 90 CV.
The weight of Polaris, a vehicle without any type of armor, is 879 kg and can carry 6 people up to 100 km / h.
"These vehicles can significantly improve the front-line mobility of an airborne unit," said Brigadier General. 82nd Airborne Brian Winski. "This means moving from traveling 3 miles in an hour to traveling through 50 in an hour and allowing our soldiers to surprise the enemy with their speed."
The militarized version, model signed as 'M' of which the army has already procured 30 prototypes, has undergone a power increase compared to the standard version "ProStar 900". Ten of these will be involved in the joint exercise with other British and Polish 1000 paratroopers to be tested "on the ground".
Mark McCormick, director of Polaris' defense, told Bloomberg that based on the outcome of this exercise, the United States Army could purchase 300 MRZRs.
An RZR for civil use has a cost of $ 15.000 per unit, an MRZR depending on the configuration of the number of seats will have a unit cost between 30.000 and 36.000 $.
(photo: Polaris)
