NAMI-0281

The NAMI-0281 is an all-wheel-drive amphibious vehicle with a carrying capacity of 1.25 tonnes. It was developed by the Special Vehicle Department of NAMI, the Russian automotive research institute, which carries out research and design work on vehicles for harsh conditions, mainly for the Ministry of Defence. At the end of the 1980s, as the armed forces' doctrine was being revised, the institute was asked to create an all-wheel-drive multi-purpose vehicle for contingency (rapid-reaction) forces, and the NAMI-0281 was the result. The archive gives no further technical details.

Other NAMI amphibians

The same department's earlier work includes the NAMI-055V, a 4x4 passenger amphibian on hydrofoils with adjustable angle of attack. Work on raising amphibian water speed began in 1959, and by the early 1960s the NAMI-055V had reached up to 58 km/h on water, which NAMI describes as a world first for a car. The department also designed floating tracked snow and swamp carriers (NAMI-0103, -0105 and -0114) and an eight-tonne four-track carrier that became the prototype for the Ural-5920.