[powertrain]

GUYS, HERE'S THE SCOOP ABOUT THE NEW TATA DEFENCE VEHICLE - REPORT COURTESY- AUTOCAR INDIA

Take a look at these photos sent to us by reader Ramanath Alapati who happened to be on holiday in Leh. The vehicle, which resembles the Mahindra Axe, is being tested in high terrain which is where military vehicles do duty and it looks like Tata Motors is keen to increase its share of the military pie.
The Axe, called the Indian Humvee, is made by Mahindra Defence Systems and supplied to the Indian army. The Tatas have been supplying Sumo-based vehicles including ambulances to the army. And reportedly, a bomb-proof Safari was also made.
In February, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee hiked India’s defence budget by four percent to $32 billion. While $13 billion is for modernisation, $12 billion is the allocation for the army.
With an Axe-like vehicle, Tata Motors could also tap the police and para-military sectors. Also with Land Rover, which has domain knowledge in defence vehicles, Tata has solid expertise to leverage.

[dhanushs]

The Indian Hummer huh??.. I hope it doesn't show the typical TATA reliability on crucial situations. Anyhow this a huge leap for TATA.

[shortbread]

The IDF Axe (on which the Mahindra is based) looks more fit for purpose, although I am basing my assumption just on looks alone. However JLR are fast forwrding the development of the next generation Defender, their know how in this field is second to none.

[HammerHead]

Interesting. It would be nice if they follow the Humvee route, I mean make a defense specific vehicle and then derive a civil version using the same technology.

[Rahulkool]

^^ You mean by derive "Tata safari in the other vehicle's cloths"

[phantom76]

Looks like a DIY vehicle assembled over a couple of weekends.

[drjones]

Looks very unbalanced , top heavy. No jokes..my local tinker can do a better job on the looks. The rear looks like a Agri derived trailer/ mid looks like a humvee clone and the front looks like a bus assembly. I really doubt whether its a real TATA product.

[car_crazy1400]

Looks like a local Jugaad type mod job , done using the 407..

Mahindra AXE looks much better.
This looks like it has different pieces welded on & would fail under stress.

[mpksuhas]

Its a weird looking vehicle. Hope its not something TATA's are making but some jugaad by any local mech.

[tsk1979]

wow. I was wondering what is this contraption when I saw it near Sonmarg. Its undergoing Army field trials(judging by the red board).
Since camera wasn't ready, I could not take any pics, but I think after a few years you will also have an option of buying this from army disposal along with Jeeps and Gypsies!

[SDP]

boy does that look ugly. I do understand that defense vehicles are designed to be utilitarian and not glamourous. But that does not mean that they have to look ugly.

[n.devdath]

is that the Indian hummer?? A Mahindra Axe for me any day. It looks like a Tata made by USA(Ullas Nagar Sindhi Association) LOL..

On a serious note, it looks seriously top heavy, under tired and a very shoddy job altogether.

[Blue Thunder]

I am sure it will look much better when the camouflage tin sheets are removed.

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

@powertrain nice catch! Any info on the specs?

[chncar]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

I hope it doesn't show the typical TATA reliability on crucial situations. Anyhow this a huge leap for TATA.

What typical Tata reliability are you talking about. Tata vehicles have historically been short on refinement and customer-friendly service etc, but nobody can accuse them of being not reliable.

Tata vehicles are generally rugged enough to take the beating from our roads and conditions for way longer than their fancy Jap/Korean counterparts. Just look at the number of Indica taxis running round the clock, or the trucks that literally move our nation. People whose livelihood depends on the vehicle are not fools to throw money at an unreliable car. The Indian armed forces use tens of thousands of Tata vehicles and seem to be quite happy with them.