The Indian Ministry of Defence signed a contract with Mahindra Defence Systems Ltd (MDSL) for supply of 1,300 Light Specialist Vehicles to the Indian Army, at a cost of $146 million.
The induction of vehicles is planned to be completed in four years.
The Light Specialist Vehicle is a modern fighting vehicle and will be authorised to various fighting units for carriage of Medium Machine Guns, Automatic Grenade Launchers as well as Anti-tank Guided Missiles.
Mahindra’s Armored Light Specialist Vehicle (ALSV) offers ballistic protection up to B7, STANAG Level II. The ALSV provides protected mobility for the front, side and rear as per STANAG Level I Ballistics and Blast for four crewmembers with battle load having ample stowage space for arms and ammunition inside the crew compartment and additional 400 Kgs cargo load-carrying capacity. It can also be upgradable up to STANAG – II Ballistics.
The Mahindra ALSV’s key characteristics include the powerful 3.2 Lts, 215 HP multi-fuel diesel engine with 4/6 Speed Automatic Transmission, 4X4 with front and rear differential locks, 1,000 Kgs payload capacity, self-recovery winch, and high travel all-wheel independent suspension with central type inflation system.