May 5, 2007:
For the last two year, a Russian firm has been producing a vehicle
remarkably similar to the armored version of the hummer (the M1114 model). The
major buyer has been the Russian Interior Ministry, for its police and
paramilitary units. Chechnya was a particularly popular destination for this new
vehicle called Tigr (Tiger). It is based on the hummer-like vehicle, the
Gaz-2330. Like the M1114, the Tigr weighs five tons, carries a crew of four,
and a load of about a ton (or an additional five men, if configured for that).
The Tigr costs $88,000 each, compared to $145,000 for the M1114, and is being
offered as a less expensive alternative to the M1114. .
Interior Ministry troops operating in dangerous
areas like Chechnya (where roadside bombs and ambushes occur regularly) have
been satisfied with the performance of the Tigr. So Russian army units will
start receiving Tigr by the end of the year.