Romping Russian fire trucks, with and without tracks! And they all fit Allison autos learns Biglorryblog!

And for a samovar, what's this? Meanwhile, BLB learns that "...the fire appliances equipped with Allison transmissions demonstrated exceptional performance during a recent field exercise held by the Russian government to showcase the latest advances in Russian emergency vehicle technology."

Now how about this one too? In the meantime I can tell you that the event, known as 'Actions during Elimination of the Consequences of Terrorist Acts, Natural and Technological Disasters' was held in Noginsk, Russia, at the Rescue Ground of The Ministry of Emergency. The field exercise took place within the international exhibition Integrated Safety and Security 2009 with the participation of the Federal Security Service, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) and the Ministry of Emergency (EMERCOM) units.

"Senior officials, including representatives of EMERCOM, NATO countries, EAPC and representatives of NATO's CEP, were impressed by the rapid reaction demonstrated by the Allison-equipped fire engines as the vehicles demonstrated fire fighting and civilian rescue under extremely difficult conditions."

And in case you've been struggling with that quiz I can tell you that among the vehicles taking part in the exercise were two fire engines - a tank vehicle ZIL 4331M and an airfield fire engine AA13,5/100-100/3, and the aforementioned two-section full-track 'Vityaz DT-2P'. All three vehicles were provided by emergency vehicle manufacturer OJSC Pozhtekhnika and equipped with Allison fully automatic transmissions featuring Allison's Fourth Generation Controls.

 "When every second counts and even a small delay can result in the loss of human life, deploying a vehicle capable of rapid reaction is of paramount importance," comments Arkady Krasovsky, Chief Technical Officer of OJSC Pozhtekhnika to BLB. "We have found the Allison fully automatic transmission to be the most reliable and efficient means of reacting swiftly to challenges encountered en-route to an accident and during rescue operations. The airfield fire engine AA13,5/100-100/3 is currently the only Russian vehicle to meet the strict requirements of International Civil Aviation Organisation and its performance is exceptional."

And for all your stat fans I can tell you that the AA13,5/100-100/3 airfield fire engine is equipped with a 710hp engine, a fire pump with a feed rate of 100 litres per second and a bumper installation with an estimated feed rate of 1600 litres per minute. The vehicle can carry 13.5 tonnes of fire-fighting agents and accelerates up to a speed of at least 80 km/h in 35 seconds. Its maximum travelling speed exceeds 110 km/h. Impressed?

Arkady's team of engineers has found that using fully automatic transmissions decreases the wear rate of vehicle driveline components, reducing the cost of repair and operation. Additionally, drivers are often less fatigued after driving a fire engine with a fully automatic transmission due to its smooth delivery of power to the wheels.

 "An Allison transmission assures exceptionally smooth gear changes as well as high reliability in case of emergencies, under difficult road and climatic conditions and with frequent acceleration and braking," he says. "This allows the driver to concentrate solely on the road and on reacting to the emergency as swiftly as possible. Due to their outstanding performance and efficiency, fire engines, Allison fully automatic transmissions are becoming increasingly popular in Russia and other nations within the Commonwealth of Independent States."