1988 Hägglunds BV206
Development of the Bv 206 all-terrain articulated tracked carrier began in 1974. Three batches of trial vehicles were delivered between 1976 and 1978 and the first production examples were delivered to the Swedish Defense Administration in 1980.
Like its predecessor, the Volvo Bv 202, the Bv 206 is designed to carry troops and equipment through snow and bog-lands in northern Sweden. The low ground pressure enables the Bv 206 to cope with a wide range of difficult conditions. It is also fully amphibious, with a speed in water of up to 4.7 km/h. Over 11,000 have been produced and they are used in more than 37 countries worldwide.
The total load capacity is 2,250 kg and a trailer of up to 2,500 kg gross weight can also be towed behind the second compartment.
The Bv 206 is referred to as a Small Unit Support Vehicle (SUSV) pronounced "susvee" in United States service. U.S. military variants include the ambulance variant, the flat-bed cargo carrier, tactical operations center variant, and the standard model. U.S. military models are fitted with a 6-cylinder Mercedes diesel engine and a non-halon fire suppression system since 1997 due to several cases where the front car caught fire and burned to the frame.
Additional users include the American and Australian Antarctic research organizations and British, Icelandic and Canadian search and rescue services. They are also used for search and rescue services in the Australian alpine region. As well, the Bv 206 was used in combat by the Canadian Forces during Operation Anaconda. The Singapore Armed Forces also uses the Bv 206 and recently transferred several of them to the Singapore Civil Defense Force to be used as a firefighting platform.
Decommissioned models have been purchased by private owners and rented as transports, particularly in Alberta, Canada, in order to access remote oil wells, as well as cut blocks which need to be reforested by treeplanting.
The Bv 206 is used in Antarctica, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.