Description
What do we mean by amphibious vehicles?
Amphibious vehicles are vehicles that can move on both the ground and water, thus overcoming any obstacles in their way. They were designed to aid military soldiers in crossing lakes, seas, or rivers, while under any attack. Amphibious vehicles are no longer solely used by military forces. These vehicles are also used by hunters, fishermen, and utility companies among others. The vehicle’s rugged tires easily trek through mud, snow, and bushes. When the vehicle is in the water, the tire deep treads also function as paddles. Amphibious vehicles include amphibious cars, bicycles, trucks, buses, ATVs, combat vehicles, railway vehicles, and hovercraft.
Industries Using Amphibious vehicles
Military Purposes
Amphibious vehicles are essential in military tasks since they combine marine and terrain-based operations, enabling troops to be quickly deployed into war zones. They can also be used for other objectives, such as disaster relief and humanitarian assistance. To protect marine boundaries from escalating maritime conflicts, amphibious vehicles are broadly utilized by military forces around the world. For instance, in 2019, FNSS Savunma Sistemleri, a Turkey-based defense vehicle manufacturer developed an amphibious armored vehicle, The Zaha marine assault vehicle (MAV). The vehicle assists Turkish Naval Forces at the time of amphibious operations. It allows naval personnel to deploy quickly to mission sites and deal with opposing threats more effectively. As a result, armed forces are deploying amphibious vehicles for surveillance and rescue missions, causing the amphibious vehicle industry to expand in the future.
Commercial Purposes
Rising disposable income all across the globe along with rapid urbanization has increased the demand for water adventure tourism. As the demand for water transportation and water sports activities has grown, commercial amphibious manufacturers have been forced to manufacture technologically advanced water vehicles to meet the increased demand from the commercial sectors.
Personnel transportation on construction sites can be difficult, especially under extreme conditions. While pickup trucks and even buses are frequently used, and they are not always capable of traversing rough terrain. When compared to standard tracked or wheeled load carriers, amphibious vehicles are deployed so that they can carry huge loads, especially when traversing small streams or negotiating steep slopes. For instance, in August 2020, Zeal Motor Inc. had developed a Fat Truck Industrial Off-Road Utility Vehicles. This all-terrain, amphibious vehicle is used to transport eight people or holds up to 2,200 lbs material weight. The company’s Fat Truck vehicles are ISO 3471 ROPS certified to ensure safety on any job location. In 2021, Highland Systems partnered with the UAE-based company, Streit Group, unveils a new multirole amphibious armored vehicle (MPV). The armored vehicle has a variety of applications in the military, civil defense, rescue, and law enforcement. It is developed to provide amphibious features, as well as remarkable maneuverability and dependability, even in extremely harsh conditions. In January 2020, ARGO, an amphibious Extreme Terrain Vehicles manufacturer had announced that it has entered into designing, manufacturing, and supplying an agreement with SHERP to expand its current product portfolio by offering commercial amphibious XTVs.
Amphibious vehicles can also be used in the mining industry as well. It is used to transfer equipment across exposed ground surfaces securely and efficiently without paying the costs associated with developing roads to their mines, allowing mines in distant places to be used.
Aside from that, amphibious vehicles are also employed for dredging jobs including maintaining swamps, riverbeds, ponds, lakes, and reservoirs, land reclamation, environmental cleanups, water silt removal, excavation, and waterway development.
All certain factors are propelling countries worldwide to invest in amphibious vehicles businesses. For instance, recently in October 2021, South Korea has declared the development of an amphibious assault vehicle (AAV) for the Marine Corps. According to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), the development project is expected to get completed by 2036. In April 2021, Taiwan has launched the first of a new class of multi-mission amphibious ships capable of transporting troops to the South China Sea and its offshore islands. With anti-ship missiles, the ships may also execute surface warfare missions. Furthermore, The Australian government plans to invest USD 620 million in new fleets of amphibious vehicles and landing craft manufactured in Australia in February 2021. These vehicles will be used to carry land forces at higher speeds and with better protection.
Latest Worldwide Contracts for Amphibious Vehicles
In February 2021, BAE Systems had received a contract of USD 184 million from The U.S. Marine Corps for additional 36 amphibious combat vehicles. This contract will cover the ACV personnel carrier (ACV-P) variant’s production, fielding, and support expenditures.
In January 2021, The U.S. Marine Corps had awarded BAE Systems with a five-year contract worth USD 77.5 million to support work on amphibious combat vehicles (ACVs) built for ship-to-shore deployment activities of the U.S. Marine Corps.
