Tata Motors has started the deliveries of the Safari
Storme to the Indian Army. The company will be
delivering the Safari Storme to the Army in a phased manner. Tata Motors will
deliver a total of 3,192 units of the Safari Storme to the Indian Army. It will
be replacing the Maruti Suzuki Gypsy, which has been an integral part of the
Army's choice of vehicle for ground movement for decades.
The Safari Storme met all the conditions that were
put forth by the Army. The Indian armed forces were looking for a vehicle which
had a payload capacity of 800 kg, had a hard-top roof and an air-conditioner as
well. Apart from Tata, Nissan and Mahindra too will provide SUVs to our armed
forces.
The key differences between the civilian version of
the Safari Storme and the 'Armed Forces' variant is the colour of course. The
Army-spec Safari Storme gets a matte green paintjob which cancels outs
reflections. All the chrome bits from the regular Safari Storme are blacked out
or painted green. The headlamps project a horizontal beam of light in order to
avoid detection of the SUVs by the enemy forces at night. The rear gets a hook
for towing trailers and a couple of canister mounts on the fenders for keeping
extra fuel and the bonnet now features an antenna for radios.
Apart from these changes, the SUV gets underbody
protection with uprated suspension as well. The Safari Storme continues to get
the same 2.2-litre turbocharged diesel engine which makes around 154 bhp of max
power and 400 Nm of peak torque. 4x4 is a standard fitment along with low and
high ratios and a six-speed manual gearbox.
