YAKUTSK, October 17. /TASS/. Amphibious all-terrain vehicles' producer plans to supply to Yakutia modifications of vehicles for cargo and passenger transportation, the Zvezda Company's CEO Alexander Blokhin told TASS.

"We offer to Yakutia amphibious all-terrain vehicles that can overcome water obstacles - swim across lakes and rivers in the off-season, and which may be used for passenger transportation. All-terrain buses under municipal management may be effective in improving the life quality in the region," he said, adding earlier the all-terrain vehicles were produced under the Rusak brand.

The company intends to produce buses that will transport passengers between villages in the Arctic regardless of weather conditions. "The vehicle with a capacity of up to 24 seats will follow a pre-recorded route. Such technologies have been practiced on the Yamal, where drivers on our all-terrain vehicles, even during severe blizzards, cover up to 400-500 km," he said.

The vehicles may be used to transport food and medicines. They will be equipped with refrigeration units, and the load capacity will be three to four tons. The third direction is ambulances. "We can install special medical equipment on our all-terrain vehicles," the company's representative added. Other modifications may be produced for the Ministry of Emergency Situations and others. Some vehicles may be equipped for mobile laboratories, workshops and repair teams.

The VEAM family has more than 35 modifications - cargo, passenger, with different engine options and wheel formulas. "We offer a variety of equipment, created on the same transmission units, frames, wheels and tires of our own design. Thus, by changing the body we create a huge family of vehicles," the CEO said.

The company plans to organize in Yakutsk a center to train specialists to use and maintain its all-terrain vehicles.

Trials in the North

The prototype's first test took place in Yakutia back in 2018. During the spring thaw at the end of April, an all-terrain vehicle, unaccompanied and without support, departed from Nizhny Bestyakh (a village in Central Yakutia). By that time, the winter snow roads had been closed, and trucks could not use them, because ice on lakes, rivers was melting, swamps were thawing. The all-terrain vehicle passed along the Kolyma highway and along the Arctic winter road, visiting Arctic settlements - Zyryanka, Srednekolymsk, Chersky and others. The locals were shocked to see the vehicle's terrain and speed. Further on, the team reached the Chukotka Peninsula's Bilibino and Pevek.

"We covered the distance quite fast, which surprised those who followed us on the Internet. For example, we left Chersky in the morning, and in the evening we were in Bilibino. Back then, it took trucks three days to drive those muddy roads. The prototype's test results gave us confidence we were on the right track," the company's leader said.

Additional tests were in 2022 and 2023, he continued. The Rusak all-terrain vehicles, which he had developed, were in mass production until mid-2024. From 2025, the company will test VEAM all-terrain vehicles, created on the basis of accumulated experience in production of Rusak all-terrain vehicles.

"Only in tests we can verify the design and technological solutions adopted by engineers and confirm the declared characteristics of vehicles. The heat-insulating car body is designed for air temperatures up to minus 60 degrees. The vehicles are better suited to overcome water obstacles. Due to the low gravity center, they have better stability on water and slopes," he explained.

About the company

Amphibious all-terrain vehicles have been developed under federal programs of the Ministry of Education and Science since 2010. By 2017, the Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University accumulated developments. Since 2017, a family of amphibious all-terrain vehicles has been under development. Since 2020, small-scale production began. More than 30 modifications have been released. All-terrain vehicles operate in the Krasnoyarsk, Taymyr, Yamal and Chukotka Regions. The vehicles were tested during expeditions in 2022 and 2023.