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Tatra truck has weight problem

T810 to be new Army workhorse when size specifications are met

By Michael Heitmann
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
October 10th, 2007 issue

Tatra’s 10-wheel, off-road T810 truck, the Czech Army’s future military workhorse, appears to be unacceptably overweight.

The Defense Ministry says the truck could be up to 300 kilograms over the weight specified in the original contract, defense minister Vlasta Parkanová and his Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Vlastimil Picek, have said.
“My predecessor defined exactly the tactical and technical demands for this off-road tactical truck, and we insisted that the specifications be met,” said Picek.
Ronald Adams, Tatra’s chief executive officer, disagrees: “If the vehicle is 100 kilograms [220 pounds] lighter or 100 kilograms heavier at curb weight, the payload is the same. So the same soldiers or equipment can be carried in the truck regardless of this 1 percent difference up or down in curb weight.”
Tatra accepted all conditions in the truck manufacturing contract, Defense Ministry spokesman Andrej Čírtek said.
“We do not doubt that the producer will be able to fulfill the given criteria [in downsizing the weight].”
Tatra’s T810 truck model weighs 13,000 metric tons (14,330 short tons), which is acceptable in terms of the contract, Adams said.
“The vehicle is not heavier than planned,” Adams said.
Questions about weight differences arose because the Defense Ministry based its weight measurement on Czech standards, but Tatra used international ISO standards, Adams said.
Weight questions are just the most recent issue to come up with this Army order for new Tatra vehicles. Tatra previously canceled a deal with subcontractor Praga Hostivař to supply manual gearboxes and axles at the beginning of the year, and Praga has taken its dispute to court.
Tatra also said foreign components might add up to 30 percent of the total contract value, even though the contract calls for a majority of parts to come from local companies.
Czech suppliers deliver 79 percent of components, but some of these parts might originate with subcontractors abroad, leading to the apparent discrepancy. Of the 162 truck component suppliers, 143 are local firms, according to Tatra.
“This truck certainly is far more indigenous to its country of origin than most trucks produced in the world,” said Adams. “To my knowledge, only one Czech supplier has been replaced with a supplier outside the Czech Republic.”
Government officials said they wanted to support local industry when they chose Tatra for the contract; Tatra was granted the order for 556 vehicles worth 2.6 billion Kč, without a tender.
Tatra sales have jumped 76 percent; in the first half of this year the company manufactured 1,073 vehicles. In 2006, net profit reached 261 million Kč ($13.4 million), up from 5 million Kč the previous year.

Michael Heitmann can be reached at mheitmann@praguepost.com


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