Tata Motors joined hands with the Indian Army to indigenously develop an armoured amphibious vehicle: the Kestrel. Car India was invited for a drive in this armoured beast
Story: Ryan Lee
Images: Rommel Albuquerque
I love my job. Driving cars is a whole lot of fun and I thoroughly enjoy it. However, a drive in an armoured vehicle developed by Tata Motors at their plant in Pune was like taking all this to an altogether new level.
I was both intrigued and eager to see what the Kestrel was all about. Since it is an amphibious vehicle, I had imagined it to be a rather small one, with a minimum seating capacity and a small motor. As our car pulled into Tata’s facility, I espied this hulking machine parked right in the middle of the road. I got down and was astounded by the sheer size of this armoured beast — ‘intimidating’ would be an understatement. Even the Safari that we came by looked like a HotWheels car in the Kestrel’s imposing presence.
It is stupendously huge. The Kestrel is a multi-wheeled armoured amphibious vehicle with various tactical and technical features. The outer body is made of solid steel, which can take care of threat levels ranging from STANAG 1 to STANAG 4. The 8×8 drive line with independent suspension enables it to tackle all types of terrain with ease. The front two axles are steerable, giving the Kestrel a 19-meter turning radius, effectively making it easier to manoeuvre. All the eight run-flat tyres come with CTIS as standard (ability to fill and lose tyre pressure automatically).
Despite its solid exterior, the Kestrel is very comfortable inside and is capable of seating 12 people. Up front, the driver and commander have their own roof hatches, while the rear compartment gets a hydraulically operated door and a roof hatch.
In spite of being well-protected, the Kestrel is also equipped to carry firearms. Provisions have been made to carry a 30-mm Remote Weapon System (RWS) with 2x fire and missiles, in addition to the 7.62 medium machine gun (MMG) and automatic grenade launcher (AGL). Formidable fire-power that.
