KAMAZ-ARKTIKA – ALPHAMOBILE FROM KAMAZ

18 April 2018

Test runs of the KAMAZ-Arktika all-terrain vehicle presented at the Vuzpromexpo-2017 annual national multisectoral exhibition at the end of last year are coming to an end in the R&D Centre of KAMAZ PTC.

In 2014, the Russian government adopted the program Social and Economic Development of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation for a period till 2020. Its priority goals are comprehensive socioeconomic development, science advancement and development of the resource base of the Russian Arctic using cutting-edge technologies. A demand arose for a vehicle which will help pioneers and researchers, subsoil users, as well as doctors and EMERCOM.

KAMAZ responded to the program with the development of the KAMAZ-Arktika amphibious snow and swamp-going vehicle. That's exactly how the first Russian "alphamobile" will be certified. The all-terrain vehicle was produced jointly with the Russian Ministry of Education, BMSTU, Moscow Poly and the students' development laboratory of MSTU MAMI.

According to Sergey Nazarenko, Chief Designer of Innovative Vehicles, the Service of the Chief Designer of Innovative Vehicles at the R&D Centre, KAMAZ-Arktika will be made in two versions: 6x6 and 8x8. The first version has already been exhibited in Moscow. The vehicle runs on the classical KAMAZ V8 engine and is equipped with a manual transmission. The vehicle will be certified as an amphibious snow and swamp-going vehicle. This is a brand new development in terms of design – nobody has created such KAMAZ vehicles before. The highest speed of the KAMAZ-Arktika is up to 50 km/h, the carrying capacity is 13 tonnes. The second vehicle (8x8) equipped with an R6 power unit and a K5 cab, as well as an automatic shift, is to be built at the end of 2018.

Under the specifications, the vehicle for operation in regions of the Far North and the Arctic operates at temperatures ranging from minus 50-60 degrees, runs in lack of good roads. The key feature of the KAMAZ-Arktika all-terrain vehicle is an articulated frame: the vehicle makes turns not due to the wheels, but due to the "breaking" frame. This solution was caused by the dimensions of the wheels: the all-terrain vehicle has got rather wide wheels with a resource not enough for turning.

Special, wide tires are another peculiarity of the KAMAZ-Arktika. They help solve a problem with off-road performance under special climatic conditions and on unstable ground: wetland, tundra, firn snow. There are tires of two sizes: over 1,000 mm wide (Oversize) and 700 mm wide (Base Width). The former is designed for operation on low-load-bearing capacity soil. The latter makes the vehicle compliant with traffic regulations enabling to drive on public roads. Thanks to these characteristics, the KAMAZ-Arktika can perform as an alphamobile – a vehicle heading a column of other vehicles, leads ordinary trucks. Clearance is 677 mm.

Besides, the vehicle is equipped with a full-fledged accommodation module in which one can live and wait for help under the severest climatic conditions for at least three days. There are berths, a shower and a toilet, a microwave oven, a heater, water storage, a wash stand, a refrigerator, a TV set, a satellite phone, a cooktop, an electrical generator. In addition, the living space is conditioned, which helps to escape from midges, mosquitoes and gnats.

The KAMAZ vehicles is undoubtedly competitive. As stated by the developers of the KAMAZ-Arktika, their creation, in comparison with other Russian developments, has got a number of key advantages, such as structural durability and high towing performance of the vehicle. Now the vehicle is in Naberezhnye Chelny: it is undergoing tests on the territory of the R&D Centre. In early summer, the KAMAZ-Arktika will be exhibited, then it will go to cold regions to undergo tests under the conditions of the Far North.

Top