World’s Fastest Amphibious Multi-role Vehicle Being Developed in China

A Chinese research institute has claimed to be developing the world's fastest amphibious multi-role military vehicle with a top speed of 50 Km per hour on water.

The four-wheeled vehicle is being developed at the China North Vehicle Institute under the China North Industries Group Corp, the country's largest maker of land armaments and military vehicles.

The vehicle uses a v-shaped hull to minimize the hydraulic drag. It is propelled by compact pump jets in waters with the wheels retracted.

With a weight of 5.5 metric tons, the proof-of-concept vehicle reached a top speed of 50 kilometers per hour as it traveled through calm waters during a test earlier this year, the institute said.

This beat the world's fastest amphibious vehicle of its kind, made by the British company Gibbs Amphibians, which has a maximum speed of 48 km/h in water.

The institute has not published other specs about the vehicle such as its land speed and operational range, China Daily reported today.

Amphibious vehicles are mainly used for military purposes and are usually launched at sea from amphibious assault ships, amphibious transport docks or hovercraft to conduct a forced entry into semi-aquatic areas.

Their core mission is to spearhead a beach and to secure coastline for landing troops. Other tasks include transporting personnel between shores and ships and providing fire support.

Most amphibious vehicles in the world move slowly in water. For instance, the United States Marine Corps' Assault Amphibious Vehicle, commonly known as AAV7, has a top water speed of 13.2 km/h, and Italy's Iveco Super-AV, an eight-wheeled amphibious vehicle, is able to move 10 km/h in water, the report  said.

The US and Japan are developing new-generation military amphibious vehicles that will be capable of traveling at least 40 km/h, it added.