The History of the UAZ Tigr SUV
Like the HMMWV and its Hummer civilian counterpart, the Tigr vehicle is manufactured by the Russian automaker GAZ in versions intended for use by both military and civilian markets. The GAZ-2975 is an armored high-mobility vehicle designed to provide secure and versatile transport for small military teams, while the GAZ-2330 civilian vehicle is a full-size SUV aimed at the mainstream consumer.
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GAZ-2330 Tigr
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The civilian 2330 Tigr was introduced in 2005 and was offered in either a four-door version with a pickup-like bed or a three-door version with a rear lift gate. The drivetrain, which featured a 5.9-liter diesel engine, full-time four-wheel drive and a 6-speed manual transmission, remained unchanged between 2005 and 2011.
GAZ-2975 Tigr
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The GAZ-2975 is the military version of the Tigr. It was introduced in 2006 when the Russian ministries of defense and internal affairs began using it. The standard version of Tigr includes seating for a driver and 11 passengers, but other seating configurations are available. Like the civilian version, the military Tigr is powered by a 5.9-liter Cummins diesel engine, but a version with a smaller diesel engine built by GAZ is available as well.
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Development
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The concept for the Tigr was introduced in 2001 at the IDEX Exhibition in the United Arab Emirates, and the vehicle went into production in 2005. Demand for the 2975 and the 2330 from the Russian military was light at first because of high cost, which was attributable to the cost of its U.S.-made Cummins engine, and a version utilizing a 3.2-liter GAZ-made engine was developed to reduce the truck's price tag. In 2011, the manufacturer expressed interest in exporting the vehicle to Latin American countries, where it would be used as an armored police vehicle.
Other Versions
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Military versions of the Tigr are available armored or unarmored, and the truck can be equipped with a top-mounted machine gun or grenade launcher. Various configurations allow for different passenger capacities, and a cargo version of the Tigr is available as well. Armored versions designed for use by police forces, the SPM-1 and SPM-2, have been developed, and they offer protection against small arms fire and incorporate firing ports into the windows.
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