DACA proposes Dawon for Indian Army's tactical operational requirement…

The Dawon 4×4 all-terrain vehicle (pictured above) features a 4,400 cc Caterpillar diesel engine pushing out 200 bhp and 800 Nm of torque, an Allison automatic transmission, and Dana's differential unit. (DACA War Trucks)

Indian defence vehicle manufacturer DACA War Trucks has proposed its Dawon 4×4 all-terrain vehicle to the Indian Army, the company's co-founder Yash Srivastava told Janes in mid-December.

The Indian Army has initiated several vehicle procurement programmes, and DACA has offered Dawon for the service's all-terrain vehicle procurement programmes, Srivastava said.

“Official user trials of Dawon have already been conducted along the Line of Control (LoC) in [the] Jammu and Kashmir region by the Indian Army, and trials are now being planned in [the] Ladakh region,” Srivastava added. 

According to the company specifications, Dawon is a general-purpose utility (GPU) all-terrain vehicle. The vehicle features a 4,400 cc Caterpillar diesel engine pushing out 200 bhp and 800 Nm of torque, an Allison automatic transmission, and Dana's differential unit.

The vehicle is equipped with four-bar link coil spring suspensions with an 18 inch vertical wheel travel, as well as disc brakes with electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD) and an anti-lock braking system (ABS), DACA said.

Dawon can be used for recce, anti-tank mobile teams (ATMTs), para operations, and vehicle-mounted mortar applications, DACA added.

The Indian Army plans to procure all-terrain vehicles in various configurations to undertake combat operations in medium- and high-altitude areas.