MINSK, 9 June (BelTA) – The Belarusian automobile engineering company BelAZ has started testing a new aircraft tug BelAZ-54010, the company's press service told BelTA.
The tug is designed to tow aircraft with the takeoff weight of up to 150 tonnes. The testing of the prototype is supposed to be finished by the end of 2021. A compliance certificate will be issued.
The aircraft tug has a number of advantages that may appeal to customers: a 136hp Deutz engine with a digital control and diagnostics system, a modern automatic hydromechanical transmission with six forward gears and three backward gears, and reinforced drive axles with multidisc brakes. Hydraulic steering offers four steering modes: individual control of every axle, crab movement mode, turning the front wheels towards the back wheels in order to reduce the turning radius. Apart from that, the aircraft tug's wheels can be turned by a large degree for greater maneuverability in narrow spaces and along complicated movement trajectories. The aircraft tug also boasts a driver's cab with a panoramic windscreen, an air conditioner and a heater, modern noise-insulating materials, a digital dashboard with a LED display, and a backup camera.
A handful of companies in the world make such vehicles. BelAZ intends to bite its own slice of the market and offer a full range of vehicles that airports need, primarily aircraft tugs. The company has already shipped aircraft tugs BelAZ-7427 to customers. They can tow aircraft with the takeoff weight of up to 600 tonnes. Tugs to tow aircraft with the takeoff weight of up to 260 tonnes are being designed. All the vehicles are compliant with requirements of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The public joint-stock company (OAO) BelAZ is the managing company of the holding company BelAZ. BelAZ is the world's largest manufacturer of haul trucks and transport equipment for the mining industry and the civil engineering industry. BelAZ accounts for some 30% of the world market of haul trucks with an extremely large carrying capacity. The company makes the world's largest haul truck with the carrying capacity of 450 tonnes.
