Its name "Amarok" may suggest the remote roads of Morocco but in reality it is necessary to move much further north to understand the meaning of this name: exactly in the cold North Pole. Indeed Amarok In the Inuit language it means "Wolf" an agile hunter who finds his ideal terrain in the often snowy woods. After all, we are now accustomed to the nice identifiers that gravitate around rotated or tracked tactics: Ram, Leopard, Lynx, Bear or Puma, certainly an effective association that transmits the DNA of the medium.
At first glance it looks more like a super Golf elongated and raised. In reality it is something much more complex than a car, in fact it is a comfortable one Pick Up integral of Volkswagen house.
It is a vehicle born for hard work while maintaining the reliable technological refinements of the German house unaltered. In fact, the European automotive press, while praising this sector, has never emphasized these types of vehicles born with an automotive line but with single, double or elongated cabin and with a narrow rear load compartment compared to a truck. In the case of Amarok then, although the engines are Euro 6, it would be difficult, according to the news, to evaluate the adaptation to the new emissions regulations.
It is basically a special car, albeit a commercial one, derived from the SUV Tiguan, not of a 4x4 truck.
While in other non-European countries, including North Africa and America i Pick Up are highly appreciated, here the situation is different, so much so that Volkswagen in May will cease production Amarok at the Hannover plant, leaving only the line built in Argentina in operation. This despite the 455 units sold worldwide since 2010 including over XNUMX in Italy. A fate that also concerns the analogues Fiat Professional Fullback and Mercedes X Class in spite of the goodness of their interesting projects and expectations.
To fans of the genre we can anticipate that VW will produce for Europe a "more automotive and much more SUV" replacement on the Ford platform.
Light Multirole, the most used
As already reported, the modern self-demonstrators of our Armed Forces over the years have oriented themselves towards a more practical and European optimization of the automotive available to soldiers, that is, a few platforms but with different conformations of use. For their convenience, however, they are i Light military those who work more in the daily activities of barracks as they represent that type of vehicle within the 4 t. overall on which the administration focuses its purchase and turnover choices.
The characteristics of the chassis with side members and cross members and the appreciable torque over 500 Nm on the 3.0 V6L TD version, combined with a 6-speed manual gearbox and reduced insertable traction, include Amarok in the category of off road not demanding, in fact I would say "wooded". The abundant wheelbase, however, places it more among 4x4 work vehicles than among pure sport or tactical off-road vehicles and certainly a step below the VM90T.
L'Amarok or a similar vehicle, would have had the papers in order, costs apart, to occupy a space in the category of Light tactical maybe after the provision and the shadows on the more specialist Iveco Massif. Its too promiscuous characteristics (car, truck and 4x4) have once again rewarded the well-known and tireless VM90 for work, reconnaissance and transport. Duchy e Daily.
To be appreciated in Amarok the undoubted comfort, air conditioning and adjustments of all kinds rather than its front winch, in addition to the practical digital selector on the left of the gearbox to switch the traction on the rear axle or insert the 4x4 with reduced (only the most recent versions have the dynamic system permanent 4 motion), but there is also a certain instability at high speeds (the manufacturer confirms 200 km / h) due to the rear leaf springs. However, considering the consumption around 12 km with a liter, its optimum speed should not deviate too much from 110 km / h. It is very manageable and soft to drive and with excellent steering but in the first versions the differentials would be self-locking and not insertable, for some a limit for the twist more lively inoff road.
Amarok M light multi-purpose vehicle
We could call him the big brother of the VW Tiguan SUV - actually not a note of merit when it comes to 4x4 - the fact is that there is also the military version of Amarok and here too, perhaps benefiting from strong discounts, the Air Force and the Military Corps of the Red Cross have appreciated their refined logistical versatility.
The German military version was created in 2012 by the bodybuilder Rheinmetall Defense for the replacement of Land Rover e G Wagen.
Available with both 180 hp petrol and diesel engines (Audi), the vehicle is equipped for use in the turret of a 7,62 or 12,7 mm machine gun rather than a 40 mm automatic grenade launcher operated from the body.
Larger tires and reinforced suspension lift it a little more off the ground than the commercial version, while the rear leaf springs, albeit revised, maintain the layout of the civil series.
Inside it looks like an elegant VW and you can see the addition of sockets and supports for radio communications. With double cab it has a maximum payload capacity of 1,26 t. and the Nato approved towing hitch can move light artillery pieces with a maximum weight of up to 2,76 t.
Available with 8-speed automatic transmission (with converter and very short first) or 6-speed manual, the German military version has a maximum speed of 180 km / h.
Provided to the CRI Military Volunteer Corps
Different units of Amarok suitably equipped and revisited by ARIS SpA of Lombardone (TO), the same company that produced the ARISGATOR (v.articolo) making the M113 tanks amphibious, they are available to the CRI Military Volunteer Corps. A resource, that of the Military Corps, certainly not to be underestimated given its operations in the various emergencies at home or outside the area.
Promptness and professional preparation are the main prerogatives of the volunteers of the Military Corps who make available their skills acquired in civilian work whenever the Inspectorate and the country request it. Although the past structural reform of the red cross has questioned the historical potential of the Corps, at least this would seem a certain conviction of a good part of the volunteers, it is also true that the will of the cross administration would already be oriented towards a synergistic enhancement with the rest of the sector.
The hope that emerges from the military is a strengthening of the command line but also of an effective and expert military rate that would ensure the smooth functioning and inclusion on a national scale of the volunteers, ensuring relations with the FFAA departments as well as with the sector of the administration of Viale Toscana in Rome.
We believe it is right and respectful towards the volunteers to give the right and consistent recognition to this resource by supporting the potential of a modern reserve in the FFAA.
In the Covid emergency 19
Although the media coverage during the early stages of the emergency was concentrated on government and Lombardy Region efforts, in particular for the procurement of health, among the silent actors who promptly contributed to the drama and are still at work, there is also the Military Corps in addition to the volunteers of the red cross.
A real opportunity that only those working in the defense probably know in depth, just consider the availability of CBRN and bio-containment facilities with trained personnel, water purifiers and modular mobile hospitals, pharmacies and rolling stock but also the equipped park of logistic and sanitary means, like the PMA shelters associated with the ASTRA APS trucks (photo) used during the national disasters. In short, a set of specialty materials and skills that form fixed or mobile health and logistics structures from time to time throughout the territory, where the sophisticated radio communications network - one of the most important elements - of the Corps allows constant synergy with all military teams. in the field.
Volkswagen Amarok used to move the military personnel called to the emergency in Italy and especially in Lombardy and Milan, it has been among the most visible means in recent months, considering its size, line and height of 1.83 m.
A great merit, in addition to the careful and incessant work of the logistics of crocerossa to guarantee foodstuffs for families (the Army also carries out the same activities) must be recognized in reality to military ambulance personnel and those posted to hospitals. Military personnel aboard the Fiat Duchy ambulance promptly made to arrive north from the headquarters of Rome, they contributed together with other Crosses and Mercies including that of Cagliari (where the young Matteo 18 years excellently distinguished himself), to respond to the incessant requests for assistance in the countries of the Bergamo valleys . A comings and goings of ambulances and sirens at any time of day or night accompanied by the encouragement of many citizens who clapped their windows as their soldiers and rescuers passed by the windows. A tough commitment was also to sort the patients into the nearest hospital indicated by the admirable work of the 118 Bergamo.
Stories reported on social media and press by some official of the Corps. Some of them never hid that “humanly fear was there, but it had to be done out of a sense of duty towards people, towards the country and as soldiers”. To you all Thanks guys!
"Inter Arma Caritas"
Photo: web / CMCRI
