The Indian Army has delivered over 10 military-spec Tata Safari Storme SUVs to the Myanmar Army. The Tata manufactured Safari Storme SUV’s were handed over by the Indian Ambassador to Myanmar. According to a recent tweet by ANI, the military-grade SUV’s were promised to the Myanmar Commander-in-Chief by the Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat.
The Tata Safari Storme is set to replace the ageing Maruti Suzuki Gypsy which will be removed from the Amry’s fleet in a phased manner. The reason for the replacement comes in the wake of the upcoming safety and emission regulations which the Gypsy is not going to meet.
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The Tata Safari Storme and the Mahindra Scorpio were in contention to be the replacement vehicle for the Indian Army and were undergoing trials for the last five years. Ultimately, it was the former that was chosen as Tata Motors made the lowest bid.
According to Financial Express, the Army had placed an order to 3,192 units of the Safari Strome to Tata Motors of which more than 90% has already been delivered. That said, the Indian Army recently approached the Ministry of Defence in order to allow them with a waiver over the new emission and safety regulations, which it received and hence placed an order to 3,051 units of the Gypsy to Maruti Suzuki.
Image Credits: ANIThe rationale mentioned by the Indian Amry for the continued use of the Maruti Suzuki Gypsy is the smaller dimensions of the vehicle which permits them to easily drive through the narrow terrains in especially in Jammu and Kashmir and Northeastern states.
In addition to this, the military-spec Tata Safari Storme is only available with a hard-top configuration while the Maruti Suzuki Gypsy comes with hard as well as soft-top models allowing the Amry with greater flexibility.
