Volkswagen Iltis (from the German — ferret”) was the main SUV in the Bundeswehr before the appearance of the Mercedes Wolf (Mercedes-Benz G-Class). This SUV became the successor of the DKW Munga model and ideologically goes back to such Kbelwagen as the legendary Volkswagen Tour 82 and its post-war replica VW 181. The goals before production were clearly defined by the customer in military terms: a speed of at least 100 km/h, a load capacity of at least 500 kg, the ability to overcome slopes at an angle of at least 60 ° and water obstacles at least half a meter deep. In addition, the car was as close as possible to civilian ones, that is, nodes and units could be easily replaced. All this made Iltis a simple and reliable military SUV. In 1980, when the "Dakar" rally-raid was still the fate of single enthusiasts, the German-Swedish driver Freddie Kottulinski became its winner on a VW Iltis SUV. In 1983, the Canadian company Bombardier bought a license to manufacture the Iltis from Volkswagen and began producing it for the Canadian military. A total of 16,000 copies were produced. At the moment, the machine is in service in the armies of Estonia, Canada, Belgium and, partly, Germany. In the German army since 1988, the more expensive Mercedes Wolf Mercedes-Benz G-Klasse has also been replaced.
