Casspir

Built in South Africa, the Casspir is an Armour Personnel Carrier designed to be able to take a direct blow with a landmine with no or minimal damage, which can be repaired easily in the field. I believe it could be used more, say in Iraq instead of ill suited Land Rover Defenders, and the body count from roadside bombs would be minimised.

Anyways, it's a cool truck - very good looking, lots of metal, and tough as a South African.

A quote from the movie's author fishclint: "[This is a] Short video made from various Koevoet (South West African Police Counter Insurgency Unit) photos and video clips.

Koevoet (Afrikaans for crowbar) was a police counter insurgency unit in South-West Africa (now Namibia) during the 1970s and 1980s. They were the most effective unit (in terms of personnel lost versus enemies killed) deployed against SWAPO fighters (seeking Namibian independence from Apartheid South Africa)."

SAS

From a UK TV show SAS: Guardians Against Terror. 2 ex-SAS members, and 2 active unnamed members run through how they tackle a hostage scenario. The SAS is the oldest special force in the world, formed during the 2nd world war.

Land Rover

At the middle of my offroading heart are Land Rovers - those are what started me off. Here is a well deserved tribute to the best 4x4xFAR...

Military demonstration about the capabilities of the Defender line-up:



Top Gear clip about the history of the Landy:



A Derbyshire based company modifies Land Rover D90s, and now Range Rovers for the Dakar rally. These are called Bowlers. Enjoy it's a spiritual experience. (For interest, a brand new stock Landy D90 can cost £25,000, so does £50,000 sound so bad now?)



And a promotional video of the LR Discovery, about its heritage:



A brief history of the Land Rover Camel Trophy offroad event:



The new version of the Camel Trophy, the G4 Challenge:

Ripsaw unmanned tank

Cool concept for SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) in US - remotely controlled tank, which can pick up injured people (well, as long as they have enough strength to haul themselves onto the back and shoot people who shoot at them - hmm), and drive into cars. I feel it's vaguely useless (well, in this scenario anyway), but cool nonetheless.

1st video - no Ripsaw action - just as an intro as to why the guy went bonkers:



2nd video - the conclusion:



Link to the designers.

Hägglunds

Swedish made tracked amphibious vehicle, used by the military, now sold to the public. Here is a website for info.

Here is a promotional clip (the teambuilding almost cracked me up):



And in action as a tsunami rescue vehicle:

Pinzgauer

Here's the Pinzgauer, an Austrian 4x4 and 6x6 made by Steyr-Daimler-Puch. Quick link for more info.

Here it is in snow!



And just being driven onroad - good to see how it works inside:



At a trial:



Pimp my Pinz - looks like Lego :)



Pinzgauers offroad!



And lastly a promotional video :)

Bucher Duro ATV

Just found this! New one to me, and looks fun with the jumps! I love trucks! Here is some more info on this Swiss made vehicle.

Tatra and Czech military

Just looking at those last clips reminded me how cool Tatra trucks are :)
It's a Czech military vehicle, available in 4x4, 6x6, or 8x8, and I believe is an equivalent of the Unimog, although the Unimog had more of an agricultural beginning.

Military promo video:



Czech military prototype testing:



Tatra Dakar rally testing:



Military exercise with pontoons (to create a bridge):



BAHNA 2005 - day of the Czech army - lots of mud and trucks!



And since we're on the theme of Czech military - here's the Czech Army Special Forces :)



A Czech military recruitment advert - looks a bit cold warish, but if they know how to use the weapons well - all the better!



Just to finish up with a Czech military exercise!

Unimog

This post is a tribute to the best 4x4 ever produced as stock. Here are some videos about the Mercedes-Benz Unimog (properly pronounced oo-ni-mog in German), one in English as a military demonstration, the other in German about the Unimog at the factory test track in Oetigheim, Rastatt, Germany.