A new tow truck, received by Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, can pull a weight of 125 tons and lay evacuation routes even through thick forest. Of course, it can – ’cause it’s a former tank!
The Armored Repair and Recovery Vehicle (BREM-1) was developed on the basis of the T-72 main battle tank by Russia’s State Corporation, Rostec.
The primary task of the 41-ton tow would be evacuating planes of any size in case of emergency, including when an aircraft skids off the runway.
It can easily haul off a wide-body double-decker airliner and won’t even need asphalt road to do so. Its impressive mass and chain tracks allow BREM-1 to lay evacuation routes on any surface, with not even a forest being able to stop it.
The former tank is also fitted with a circle swing crane that has a capacity of 12 tons and special equipment allowing it to cut through or weld steel.
Domodedovo has become the first airport in Russia to purchase BREM-1, but Rostec Industrial Director, Sergey Abramov, was sure that others will soon follow suit.
“Cooperation with Domodedovo shows that military hardware has a huge potential for civil use,” Abramov said.
T-72 is one of the most widely produced tanks in the world. It was introduced in the USSR in 1971, with its various modifications still in service in Russia and many other countries. The armor proved its effectiveness and reliability in numerous conflicts, including Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, the Balkans and others.
