"Inspired by a Real-Life Event": A PLA 'Shanzhai' Tracked, Articulated All-Terrain Carrier

 

There is nothing publicly available that confirms China ever imported the famed Swedish Bandvagn 206 (Bv 206) or acquired its design directly. The Bv 206, of course, earned its reputation the old-fashioned way: by being exceptionally good at traversing snow, mud, swamps, rivers, and just about every other environment that would make a normal vehicle's driver question their life choices.

 

Back in 2010, I blogged that a Bv 206-inspired/Shanzhai/knock-off vehicle appeared at the 22nd International Medical Instruments and Equipment Exhibition and it was written by the PLA daily, see below. At the time, it was presented in an ambulance configuration, which seemed innocent enough. Fifteen years later, that humble "inspiration" has multiplied into an entire family tree of articulated tracked vehicles in military and civilian forms

 

Today, variants can be found serving as ambulances, firefighting vehicles, POL (Petroleum, Oils, and Lubricants) carriers, command posts, logistics transports, and various other support platforms designed to keep the PLA moving through snow, mud, marshes, and whatever terrain map planners decide to torment drivers with. The latest versions are also noticeably more armored and, in some cases, equipped with 12.7mm machine-gun mounts. 

 

For those who follow PLA and NORINCO procurement patterns, especially before the 2010s, none of this should come as a surprise.  The vehicle itself is almost secondary to the procurement philosophy it represents.

The PLA has a long history of observing existing concepts and proven solutions from around the world. Sometimes the result is a direct purchase. Sometimes it is an evaluation program. Sometimes it is an "inspired by a real-life event" moment. Either way, the concept gets studied, measured, tested, and judged on one simple question: does it work?

If the answer is yes, the PLA tends to extract every possible ounce of utility from it.

A vehicle designed for medical evacuation becomes a logistics carrier. The logistics carrier becomes a command post. The command post becomes a communications node. Eventually, someone looks at the platform and asks whether it can also haul fuel, carry troops, fight fires, or tow equipment. If the answer is remotely plausible, another variant appears.

The Bv 206-inspired family is a textbook example of this approach. The original idea was not simply copied; it was absorbed into the system and expanded into every role that could justify having an articulated tracked chassis.

In many ways, that is often the more interesting story. The hardware itself may be familiar, but what stands out is the PLA's habit of finding a solution that works and then squeezing every last kilometer, every last mission set, and every last procurement budget line out of it.

As the saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In the PLA procurement world, it is also frequently the beginning of an entire vehicle family.

The new improved armor and 12.7mm variant that's showed up recently:

 

 

Old CDF post from  2010 

 

Monday, April 05, 2010

Shanzhai spirit strikes again.

The PLA's First-generation All-Terrain Tracked Ambulance that was revealed during the 22nd International Medical Instruments And Equipment Exhibition (here) -- a 山寨
knock-off Alvis Hagglunds BV206S.

New generation of PLA medical equipment on international exhibition

(Source: PLA Daily) 2010-04-06

All-terrain tracked ambulance

　　At the 22nd International Medical Instruments and Equipment Exhibition, a new generation of medical equipment of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) made a collective display on March 26 and became a highlight of the exhibition. Such categories of China-made equipment as plateau oxygen-generating equipment, information-based equipment, simulation training equipment, test equipment, NBC equipment, emergency rescue equipment and long-distance medical treatment equipment were displayed respectively at the exhibition, all-roundly showing the achievements obtained in the construction of the PLA information-based medical equipment in recent years.

　　The all-terrain tracked ambulance which was displayed for the first time adopted the structure of tracked dual-car body and installed with the satellite positioning system. With such a vehicle, the frontline combat troop units (elements) can implement cross-country maneuver under such special terrain conditions as desert, marshland, tidal land and snowfield and accomplish rapid and safe transportation and on-the-way first-aid for the wounded from battlefield (disaster-stricken site).

　　The “NBC” bioinstrumentation vehicle which can offer mobile and rapid bioinstrumentation technology platform to fight against sudden epidemic outbreak and anti-terrorism in peace time and carry out NBC medical rescue in war time. It can be used as a mobile lab for bioinstrumentation.

　　The field operation vehicle has the function of remote medical consultation, which can link the forefront field medical agencies and rear hospitals to carry out remote expert consultation and offer diagnosis and treatment guidance for the rescue of the wounded under emergency maneuver conditions, and support the early-phase treatment and special treatment of the critically wounded from a distance by relying on the remote medical information network of the PLA.

　　It’s learned that during the “Peace Mission 2009” joint military exercise, the Wenchuan earthquake relief, the Haiti earthquake relief and the UN peacekeeping missions, the employment of the new generation of military medical equipment enabled the further improvement of the medical support capability of the PLA in implementing diversified military actions.

Editor:Liu Wanyun

 

 

Photo collection over the years.