Russia Introducing Zippy Alabai All-Terrain Buggies to Special Op Zone

The buggies are joining a range of other highly mobile, nimble vehicles already on the frontlines taking part in missions ranging from tank hunting to troop transport and evacuation of the wounded.

Russian all-terrain vehicle manufacturer F-Motorsport is producing Alabai buggies for deployment in the special military operation zone.

The popular off-road vehicles, named after the Central Asian Shepherd breed of dogs, were first introduced in 2016, and have gained a reputation in Russia as a zippy, maneuverable, reliable, simple and affordable brand of buggies which can withstand difficult weather conditions in even highly remote, rural areas of the country.

The vehicles feature powerful motors and drive trains, with their 150 horsepower two-liter atmospheric engines enabling them to accelerate to up to 140 km per hour even in off-road conditions.

On the front, the Alabai’s missions include reconnaissance in otherwise impassable off-road conditions, with brackets for attachable 7.62 mm machine guns and AGS-30 grenade launchers turning them into light attack vehicles.

They can also be used as unarmored transports, sending soldiers to the front, delivering medical supplies, food and ammunition, and evacuating the wounded using an evacuation cart attached to the rear through a towbar. The Alabai has a reported carrying capacity of over 500 kilograms.

“This buggy is produced by a design bureau based near Moscow. We have received six of these vehicles, five of which are already in the area of the special military operation,” a representative of the All-Russian Popular Front, a political coalition created by Vladimir Putin in 2011, said.

The Popular Front has been fundraising for the purchase Alabai buggies on its website.

“The lightweight multipurpose Alabai appeared as a response to the realities of modern military operations, which require the mobility and maneuverability of vehicles with high impact capabilities. Specialists from Zubr SOBR [a Russian National Guard special police unit, ed.] have already tested this vehicle in the most difficult conditions,” F-Motorsport director Eduard Mymrin said.

Alabais join a range of other small, zippy vehicles that Russian forces previously deployed on the front, ranging from tank-hunting all-terrain utility vehicles equipped with anti-tank missile systems, to converted Niva 4x4s and UaZ SUVs and pickups, some of them operated by volunteers or Donbass People’s Militias.

The NATO-Russia proxy war in Ukraine has highlighted the importance of high mobility for troops, with the heavy saturation of drones, missiles other weapons on the frontlines, combined with advanced reconnaissance capabilities, meaning the difference between victory and defeat in battle can literally come down to which side’s troops, tanks and other equipment are faster on the draw and in maneuvers.