When it comes to exotic vehicles, the undisputed star these days is Sojourner, the relatively low-cost rover that explored the Martian surface. But Earth still offers some thrilling rides. The design of vehicles destined for the rugged terrain of northern Canada and Siberia is a case in point.

Growing Western European demand for natural gas and oil is opening up opportunities for Western manufacturers of oil-field equipment in the Russian region, which is believed to have enormous reserves of both fuels. One company capitalizing on this opportunity is Foremost Industries Inc. in Calgary, Alberta, which has been selling its specialized tracked and wheeled all-terrain vehicles to the Soviet Union and its successors since 1968. These machines are used to haul drilling equipment beyond the reach of roads. Foremost's vehicles were designed to operate in the extreme temperatures and often swampy terrain found in the Canadian Arctic, and these conditions are characteristic of Siberia as well.

Foremost Industries' experience in designing vehicles for use in northern Canada makes them suitable for the brutal conditions found in Siberia.

"The reason the Russians originally approached us back in the 1960s was because our vehicles had proven themselves in terrain that closely resembled their own," said Bill Pusch, vice president of sales at Foremost. Pusch himself has worked the Russian market since 1974, and stressed the differences between doing business with Russia then and now.

"During the communist era, a single state oil and gas agency like Gazprom bought all the equipment," Pusch said, "so we dealt with only a few sets of buyers and financiers." By the late 1980s, Foremost was doing some joint manufacturing of components for about 40 vehicles in the Soviet Union to help lower costs for their buyers. This practice was discontinued when the factories wound down with the end of communism.

"Today, the Russian oil and gas industry has been broken into numerous separate production associations and end users we sell directly to, so we have to deal with more people," Pusch said. "Fortunately for us, many of them are people with whom we established close working relationships during the Soviet Union days."

Like virtually all Russian industries, the oil and gas sector is eager to buy Western technology and equipment because of its quality. This requires hard currency that most other industries do not have, but as Pusch noted, "because the oil and gas production associations are exporting their products, they have that hard currency."

The key for Western manufacturers to get Russian business is to get to the top of the priority list for those who spend that convertible money, according to Pusch. The fact that Foremost is one of the few companies that designs and builds all-terrain oil- and gas-field vehicles is the company's entree into the Russian market.

Foremost's 1996 order backlog, as reported in Canadian Corporate News, was $20 million, of which $17 million was in vehicles. Of those vehicles, exports to Russia accounted for $12 million. The most popular by far is the Husky 8, which the company describes as the largest soft-track vehicle in the world.

The Husky 8, powered by a 385-horsepower Detroit Diesel engine, can carry up to 30,000 kilograms of cargo. The vehicle's four-track configuration and articulated undercarriage enable the body of the Husky 8 to follow its tracks over waterlogged soil. This is essential to duty in Siberia, where about 70 percent of the ground is swampy. A power-shift transmission enables Husky 8 drivers to use a standard truck steering wheel. "We have sold about 600 units to Russia, each selling for about a half-million dollars U.S.," Pusch said. They operate equally well in the Siberian summer and winter.

During these frigid periods, a diesel-fired coolant heater made by Proheat in Vancouver, British Columbia, is used to preheat the engine block of the Husky 8 to ensure start-up. "The furnace is also used throughout the year to reduce the wear associated with cold starts," said Jim Fulton, coordinator of vehicle design at Foremost. He said that the Proheat can raise the Husky 8 engine temperature from —40°F to 38°F in 70 minutes. Coils from Arctic Fox in Delano, Minn., that were installed in the oil pan heat the oil during subzero temperatures.

The latest product line that Foremost has introduced to Russia is its mineral-exploration drills. These are mounted on tracked and wheeled chassis, and are designed to tackle difficult terrain. They are equipped with large flotation tires to minimize the vehicles' environmental impact.

Pusch said future opportunities for Western manufacturers in Russia "are going to be enormous," but cautioned that there are no shortcuts to capitalizing on those opportunities. "It's a laborious process to identify and convince the interested purchaser, ensure financing, and work through the system. For instance, it still takes us two years to complete an order." MICHAEL VALENTI


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