MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS Correspondent Viktoria Ivonina/. The Burlak snowmobile was once created by enthusiast Alexey Makarov - it was literally a garage-made vehicle to travel across harsh ice and snow in the Arctic. Quite quickly it became clear the powerful vehicle could be very practical: in missions to search and rescue people, and to be used in the oil and mining industries. Nowadays, Burlak is made at a large modern enterprise unaffected by the sanctions. (In old Russia, a burlak was a person who hauled barges and other vessels upstream.)

A travel car

The car was never intended for the large-scale conquest of the Russian North. A few people simply wanted to travel the Arctic. It took about six months to make Makarov's first Burlak - practically by hand. Anyway, in the spring of 2019, crews of enthusiasts drove the vehicles for more than 6,000 km from Novy Urengoy to Anadyr. Over 29 days, three Burlak vehicles traveled Russia's northeastern coast.

The vehicles managed everything fine, and became popular with tourists, travelers, hunters and fishermen in the Far North. In 2023, the model set a new speed record in the Antarctica, having passed 1,350 km from the Progress weather station to the Vostok-1 station within 2.5 days, and several cars joined the Ministry of Emergency Situations' fleet.

In January 25, 2024, Burlaks left for the Russia 360 expedition. They drove from Murmansk to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and passed the baton to other equipment. The plan is they will travel 33,000 km along the country's all land borders crossing 58 regions. The route is planned to continue to December.

"Initially, the Burlak all-terrain vehicle was designed for a fairly narrow and specific circle of people engaged in traveling, hunting, fishing. The all-terrain vehicle offered comfort in travelling long distances. Over time, it has proven to suit both travelling and certain practical purposes of big corporate clients, the oil industry, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, that is in rescue operations, and in areas related to oil production and mining," the Burlak All-Terrain Vehicles Company's CEO Vladimir Ufimtsev said.

Caring for the fragile North

According to Deputy Chief Designer Ivan Lisikhin, an important feature is low-pressure tires of 1,750 by 720 mm, which provide sufficient cross-country abilities in the Far North's off-road conditions.

"They make low pressure on the ground, which is important in the Arctic with a fairly thin fertile soil layer, and they add to the cross-country ability," he explained. "Another advantage is the on-board gearboxes for the reliable transmission and increased cross-country ability."

Over recent two years, the vehicle has been upgraded significantly: every system has been redesigned for higher reliability and the launch of mass production, the developers said.

"The Burlak all-terrain vehicle mainly has domestic components and units. The vehicle has been used in the Russian North, where domestic production equipment is widely represented, therefore, when designing the car, we took into account that spare parts from other machines widely distributed in the North could be used for our all-terrain vehicle," the company's Commercial Director Roman Pankratiev said.

The right way

As the time went on, the vehicles required both comfort and documented safety guarantees in the most emergency situations: the developers took the difficult though the only right way - certification, recorded tests in the Far North, where temperatures reach minus 60° Celsius. The developers faced the task of bringing the Burlak from the workshop to the large-scale factory production.

"As for experience in the development of such equipment in the country, it is little. We had to go our own way, where we picked up special materials, equipment that can work with these materials, and they we offered our customers a modified, improved all-terrain vehicle that had passed all tests, satisfied all requirements, and we have already entered first contracts," the CEO said.

The big project required big areas: in the very beginning, 1,500 square meters were enough, and nowadays the production occupies 15,000 square meters. It is located in the Kurgan Region. The new workshops have most up-to-date equipment.

"Equipment was a separate story: it was not easy to buy it when under the sanctions, but thanks to the Kurgan Region's government, we could order everything we needed," he added.

Sanctions, the company said, have only accelerated the development. In a "quiet time", an upgrade process of the kind - the production evolution - could take five to eight years. Here, they managed everything within just a couple of years. The current capacity is sufficient for Burlak's serial production.

Attention to detail

It was important, even vital, to localize production. Burlak must work in the Far North, it must be reliable without failing. Therefore, a priority was to make own parts, and the initial plan to use domestic components favored stable smooth work.

"Components, parts … Since the equipment is operated in very harsh conditions, all parts must be extremely reliable, must be made very accurately and precisely. We decided to make everything ourselves to control and guarantee quality, thus the localization of all-terrain vehicles production reaches 80%: apart from the engine, we make practically everything, and, even if we buy something, it's mostly domestic," the CEO said.

In the autumn, on October 29, new workshops started working: most important parts - transmission elements - will be made there, in Kurgan, plus a new gear processing workshop so that developers could make independently most important components - gears. The equipment is new, he noted proudly, the latest technology.

"We realize we can guarantee the quality of these parts. In addition to our own production, we can also offer them to foreign markets for everyone who may need these details," he added.

A unique job

In the new workshop, which, of course, is much bigger, brighter and cleaner than the original workshop, the test site's Manager Artyom Petrov welcomed us. While in the past, Burlaks were made literally in a garage, the new workshop is like a high-tech laboratory.

"Our swamp walker consists of two parts. The frame's lower part is what people call a boat. All power units are mounted on it: transmission, engine, chassis, plus the body's upper part. Here is how it looks like: made of two parts, two welded halves," he said, noting the purchased equipment would cut use of manual labor making Burlak's new version more technologically advanced.

In the back of the car there are living quarters, as well as rooms for "controls" with a place for the driver. Special attention, the manager noted, is paid to the hull - the North dictates own rules. The car is sheathed in aluminum with a sealant between the aluminum layer and the frame - thus, the vehicle may be used both on ice and on water. The frame withstands the water pressure in rivers with current.

After the assembly, every vehicle gets to the test site to cover about 500 km in conditions close to real northern operating conditions. We will be allowed to test one of the vehicles.

"In fact, the first impressions will be unusual, weird," the manager laughed as we were driving up to the water. He's relaxed, not worried, not at all like us. He seemed to be used to swimming in all-terrain vehicles. "The trick is to follow the balance: speed, weight, cargo, passengers, because the wheels are big, the car is very high, its stability is not the same as that of a boat, thus it may roll a little on the water."

The feeling was the Burlak was sinking, but the picture outside the window remained unchanged - the vehicle was moving on.

"Look, now I'm turning off the drive. We're just floating in the current, we don't have any roll. The car stands steadily in the water," the manager was pleased with the effect.

Paving own way

It is getting exciting to develop Burlak, the CEO said: the business does not have a ready-made path, which is not surprising for pioneers - all-terrain vehicles have never been in mass production. The company, anyway, has a clear development plan. "We are shaping the sales market, we respond to the vehicle's all technical problems, we offer alternatives for classical logistics chains and transport. The interest in Burlak is not only from Russian petroleum producers or from those engaged in mining, or from our Ministry of Emergency Situations, the interest is also from abroad," he said.

Certain factors point to an increase in interest in the vehicle, the company's commercial director said.

"The Arctic tourism is a promising development direction. Our vehicle is ideal for it: it is safe, environmentally friendly - it does not ruin the soil layer. Our vehicle could be used also for medical services in remote regions, that is, we can deliver people by land to provide medical care on the ground, including medical examinations. With the Northern Sea Route development, options to transport cargo by land become relevant, and here, the all-season use of Burlak all-terrain vehicles is a solution," he said in conclusion.