6 April 2015

Russia’s Top Paratrooper Wants Airborne Snowmobiles

By ROBERT BECKHUSEN

The Russian military is working on an air-dropped snowmobile for its paratroopers. No, it’s not a scene from a James Bond movie.

Earlier this year, Col. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov — Russia’s airborne forces chief — ordered the development of “airborne snowmobiles” after a visit to the northern Yaroslavl region.

“Airborne snowmobile flies, shoots and keeps the driver warm,” Shamanov said according to the newspaper Komsolskaya Pravda.

What Shamanov is talking about is an ordinary Taiga-551 snowmobile dropped from the back of an airplane. The vehicle weighs about 705 pounds and powers itself with a liquid-cooled 65-horsepower engine.

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