Touareg VW Touareg: Military edition

[Bartek S.]

 

[BarneyBoy]

I can see the one in the 1st pic being a big hit in some parts of continental USA... for hunting, of course...

Looks pretty tough. That's a lotta stuff on the rear bumper.

 

[phaeton]

As much as everyone likes it, it failed the Bundeswehr (German Army) tests.

VW apparently tries to re-capture the military market. They have a "protected" version of the Touareg, with an internal safety cocoon made from armour grade steel. It makes the interior smaller, but to casual onlookers, the T-reg does not appear to be an armoured vehicle.

The thing is heavy - about 5,4 tons (12.000lbs) and powered by the V6 TDI with 165kW.

The vehicle is intended to be a command car and carries comms equipment. The version above has a remote controlled .50cal machine gun on the roof; must be useful for nipping road rage in the bud.

More pictures can be found here:
Geschützte Führungs- und Funktionsfahrzeuge (Bw)

Intrestingly, the military (German Bundeswehr) does not classify the Touareg ("Frettchen" - "Ferret") as an off road vehicle, but merely a vehicle for unpaved roads.

Whether or not VW is going to actually sell any, is unsure. The T-reg did not do so well in the army's vehicle testing centre and its gruelling offroad courses modelled after Afghanistan conditions.

The Austrian armed forces bought 100+ T-regs, but only a military green civvy version.

I have not found anything official. There is an article on the blog site of the German news channel.
blog.tagesschau.de Blog Archiv Frettchen-Seuche

Basically, it says that - although generals seemed to like it, likely because they are familiar with the Touareg from their own family motor pool - the testers at the Bundeswehr vehicle testing centre were not impressed and the Touareg "crumbled" on the test track.

Source Military version of the Touareg - TDIClub Forums

 

[Gullwing]

Maybe my sister can make hers into one of these. 50cal. would be a very nice option.

 

[kovachian]

Dangit, I didn't see ".50 cal" on the options list. I think I'll go back to the dealer and check again.

 

[cawimmer430]

Nice!

I'd love to see the aforementioned .50 cal options and perhaps a couple of AGM Hellfire missile racks on the roof.

 

[Tarek]

jurassic park anyone? reminds me alot of those MLs in that movie.

 

[zetableh]

I totally agree. There's something pretty cool about German SUVs in matte green and safari guards.

 

[josierama]

Nice. Can it produce an effective smoke screen? Or would it be one of those whimpy clean burning diesels?

 

[Deutsch]

Envrio-junkies definitely can't touch this.. unless they're looking to get blown into biodegradable matter.

 

[Giannis]

I want to see the interior!