Support: March 26, 2002

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China has unveiled its new Zhanshen (God of War) 4x4 multi-purpose combat truck, which appears to be a reverse-engineered Humvee. The vehicle has a turbo-charged air-cooled diesel engine and a five-speed transmission. Each wheel has independent suspension. The body of the vehicle is made of a composite material that is non-metallic and hard to detect with radar or on infrared. The vehicle is 4.85m long, 2.15m wide, 1.86m high, and has a ground clearance of 400mm. The wheelbase (3.3m) and track width (1.83m) are identical to the Humvee. Maximum combat weight is 3,372kg, of which 1,135kg is payload (crew, weapons, fuel, ammunition, equipment). China is known to have bought five military-type Humvees for use by its petroleum ministry and has bought several civilianized Humvees on the open market.--Stephen V Cole