The Marines always get the hand-me-downs. At least that’s the conventional wisdom. But now the corps is getting 144 Polaris Defense MRZR-D4 diesel-powered buggies.
The four-person rigs are heavy duty, khaki versions of the popular RZR off-road rig. But the USMC version comes with a 993cc 4-stroke single-overhead cam three-cylinder turbo diesel engine. The Marines will be running the first-of-their-kind rigs on the front line, before the other services.
And they look pretty badass as well. They carry 1,500 pounds of payload, including 500 in the cargo box and weighs 2,100 pounds itself ready-to-drive.
The really fantastic thing about the announcement is that the Marines will be running a combat platform they can call their own. Of course, mounting a Mark 19 would be proper as well. But the real fun will be watching how the corp makes the MRZR-D4 their own.
One of the more interesting developments over the past decade has been the emergence of the ATV for military applications, and Polaris defense has certainly led the way, with a host of vehicles, all purpose-built for combat and assault.
And also, image being in the other end of a pack of jacked up marines in a speeding assault cart, guns blazing never stopping for shit, prepared to smash faces until the mission is over? That’s the stuff.
