Daimler Truck AG announced last Tuesday (3) that the Mercedes-Benz Zetros defense vehicles have completed their winter testing in Finland, validating their operational capability at temperatures down to minus 40 degrees Celsius.
According to a message from the website Defence Blog the test campaign was carried out in the Arctic region to verify whether the series Zetrosdefense vehicles can maintain their performance in harsh winter conditions, a critical requirement for military customers operating in northern climates.
According to the company, the winter tests were carried out at the beginning of the year by the team of specialists from Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks. The tests lasted several weeks and focused on traction, driving stability on icy roads, performance at low temperatures and general operational reliability in winter.
“Our customers, such as Lithuania, Canada and Ukraine, depend on vehicles that work anytime, anywhere — even during the freezing winters of northern latitudes,” said Dennis KinzelmannCEO of Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks.
“To meet this demand, we expose our vehicles to very demanding tasks in extremely cold and winter conditions, which they have once again successfully completed.”
Daimler Truck stated that the Zetrosdefense vehicles have demonstrated stable driving behavior and full compliance with all technical parameters during the Arctic tests.
As part of the test program, the vehicles were subjected to a cold start procedure at minus 40 degrees Celsius in a cold room. The company also conducted tests on the Electronic Stability Program (ESP), which is designed to prevent skidding and improve stability on ice and snow surfaces.
Engineers conducted extensive braking tests to evaluate the vehicle’s behavior on different surfaces and under a variety of traction conditions, in both loaded and unloaded configurations and in situations where only one axle was on an icy surface while the other was on gravel, to assess how the vehicle handles asymmetrical traction and other extreme conditions.
Additional evaluations include the use of kerosene and testing of the tire pressure monitoring system. By adjusting air pressure, the system increases the contact area of the tires on snow, improving traction and mobility in winter environments.
The company also reported that the winter tests covered mechatronics, software and safety systems, as well as emissions and exhaust after-treatment systems.
Engineers evaluated the performance of the engine and transmission at low temperatures, together with the air conditioning system in the driver’s cabin and the use of auxiliary heating at very low outside temperatures.
Daimler Truck noted that in addition to the Zetros others too Mercedes-Benzvehicles were tested in the same Arctic environment. These include the Unimogof Econic in of eArocs 400which were also subjected to cold weather tests.
Of Zetros specifically, is a conventional four-wheel drive truck platform often used for military transportation, logistics and support missions. The configuration is intended to provide crew protection, high mobility and adaptability to different mission modules.
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Photo: Daimler Truck. This content was created using AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
