Booxt unveils ‘Assaut’ as possible ultimate buggy for French special forces.

In association with Michelin to showcase its run-flat tire, Booxt, a French company specialized in ultra-light race vehicles of buggy type, unveils a militarized variant of its fast machine, called “Assaut”.

The Booxt "Assaut" is regarded by the French army as an interesting ultralight buggy that could match some special forces criteria (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The frame is manufactured by Groupe Roze, a French group of six production sites that gather their skills and expertise to reach high-quality, availability and scalability. Based on a strong experience built since 1921, Groupe Roze brings a global solution to forge, CNC machining, laser cutting, robotized welding, etc.

The “Assaut” is an ultralight buggy benefiting from racing technology, foreseen to carry four people or 700kg payload, which makes it an easy vehicle for air transportation. It can speed up to 160/km, something unique in this category.

It is powered by a Peugeot 2.0-liter diesel engine developing 180hp/400Nm, coupled to a manual gearbox and limited slip differential, which implies low-cost and almost worldwide spare parts availability. Most of the suspensions parts are interchangeable, a great advantage in operation.

The modular platform can fit many military requirements. Damien Matraire, general manager of Booxt, mentions simply that the “Assaut” is displayed at Eurosatory 2018 as a suggestion from the French army in line with an interest expressed by them in this vehicle, but special forces would use BF Goodrich tyres KO2 in 32" instead of the Michelin run-flat ones. More news might pop up at the end of this year.