Dok-ing, a 100 per cent privately-owned Croatian company, made its debut at Defexpo with its demining system, ammunition depo management, counter-IED solutions as well as combat engineering solutions. “All our machines can be operated at approximately 1.5 km away, which gives a lot of distance to the security people and all those in charge of any type of operation,” said Mislav Manda, Account Manager, Dok-ing.
The vehicle acts as a first responder unit in critical areas where troops cannot be sent. “When you have a fire in ammunition depo, you have to evacuate and cannot send people in, and everything is stopped. The people who are in charge of this are not aware what is going on inside, and so with our machines like the MVF-5 you can send it inside and get information through sensors. It can also remove hindrances on roads and clear the way for the fire-fighting team,” averred Manda.
Known for the production of robotised and special-purpose systems and equipment under the product name MV-4, MVF-5, etc., since 1991; Dok-ing’s facilities and service are located at Zagreb in Croatia. The secondary production facilities are in Slunj, some 50 km south of Zagreb. Along with its branch office in the US, there is a company in South Africa known as DOK-ING Africa which supports the program for South African mines. Today DOK-ING has 220 employees, almost 170 being in Zagreb, another 30 in Slunj and the rest in South Africa.
With a view to bringing its technology to the Indian defence, Dok-ing is speaking to potential partners. “We are ready to explore opportunities in India in terms of technology transfers or partnering with like- minded companies. We have sold around 300 machines in more than 30 countries worldwide, most of them for demining. Our biggest customer is the US Army. We have sold 130 machines to them directly. Even the Greek, Australian and Italian armies use our products,” disclosed Manda.
Dok-ing’s standard training for robots lasts 10 working days. As the vehicles are simple and reliable to operate and even service, the training covers servicing the machine and other basic operations.