The situation in many regions of the world is becoming increasingly uncertain. This applies in particular to politicians, corporate executives and royalty. The auto industry is currently saddling up a lot and is bringing new armored vehicles onto the market that hardly differ from the tame series models and should ensure maximum safety.
The US State Department has just placed an order with GM Defense, a subsidiary of General Motors, to develop new tank versions for the diplomatic security service (DSS). As part of this development contract worth a total of 36.4 million US dollars, General Motors Defense is to develop a heavily armored Chevrolet Suburban and initially build ten of these vehicles over the next two years.
The armored version of the Chevrolet Suburban is the backbone of personal protection in the USA and large parts of South America. While the lavishly dimensioned Chevrolet Suburban has been re-armored by specialist companies for years, especially in countries like Mexico or Brazil, the big brother of the Chevrolet Tahoe has also been manufactured as a tank version by General Motors for decades. Among other things, the US President is away from official appointments in which he is on the road in a special vehicle in the look of a Cadillac luxury limousine called “The Beast”, mostly with a whole fleet of heavily armored Chevrolet Suburban vehicles. A large number of these vehicles are in the vehicle fleet of the Secret Service as well as in the diplomatic service of the foreign embassies.
For the new Suburban heavy tank, GM Defense uses the commercial vehicle architecture from General Motors, which was developed for large pickups and off-road vehicles, and uses numerous commercially available high-volume parts such as body, drive, interior and brakes for the HD Suburban, which is specially built for government purposes. The Panzer Suburban will feature a new and unique body-on-frame chassis and suspension specifically designed to meet the increased performance requirements of government vehicles with higher payloads and heavier vehicle weights. “We’re excited to work with the State Department to develop a fully integrated, purpose-built HD Suburban,” said Steve duMont, President of GM Defense. “The Chevrolet Suburban has been an icon in commercial transportation since 1935. Our development mandate underscores ours Long-standing legacy of superior transportation capabilities, and our new HD Suburban will deliver government-specific, advanced mobility solutions to meet DSS requirements. ” General Motors Defense will deliver the vehicles in two phases, with the first deliveries scheduled for next spring. A production contract for the construction of a fleet of another 200 tank suburbans per year over a period of nine years is expected to be concluded following the conclusion of the development contract in or around May 2023.
The tank market in Germany is currently manageable. Mercedes has just presented its new S 680 Guard, which complements the heavily armored Audi A8 High Security in the government fleet. This is a rejection for the first time for the armored Mercedes G-Class, which is still only available as a normal vehicle. The predecessor of the Mercedes W 463 generation had been very successful for many years in tank versions that made a name for themselves as an escort vehicle for personal protection columns and protection models for armies and special operations units.
In future, Daimler will rely solely on its S-Class for armored vehicles. The new model is only available with a long wheelbase and the 450 kW / 612 PS / 830 Nm V12 turbo engine from the Maybach. While most armored vehicles are limited to 210 km / h due to tires with the appropriate emergency running properties, the new Panzer S-Class with protection level VR10 stops propulsion at 190 km / h. The axles and tires of the 4.2-ton model, which is available as a four- and five-seater, come from the previous version. The maximum payload is 660 kilograms. The protection class VR10 fulfills the highest ballistic test level for civil vehicles and is not only secured against appropriate explosive charges, but also against fire with assault rifles with the appropriate steel hard core ammunition. While the corresponding protective materials were previously integrated into the series body structure of the Mercedes armored sedans, a specific armored shell made of protective elements was developed for the first time with the new S Guard. The occupants sit in a maximally protected cell, which should only be noticed by experts, because from the outside the Mercedes S 680 Guard looks almost like a completely normal S-Class. At second glance, optical differences can only be seen in the centimeter-thick windows and the tires with Michelin’s Pax emergency running system.
In addition to the invisible armor elements, the transparent area of the panes is an essential part of the protection concept. The material and thickness of the multi-layer pane sandwich also meet the requirements of the VR10 classification. On the inside, the panes are coated with a polycarbonate splinter protection. On request, there is a refrigerator in the 390 liter cargo space that can be used from the interior. In addition to the armored cell, there are panes of glass as thick as a fist and window regulators with a hydraulic emergency function. Other optional extras include a fire extinguishing system and an emergency fresh air system that protects occupants from the ingress of smoke or irritant gases and supplies them with fresh air. Since most vehicles are used by authorities, governments or royal houses, the Guard models are equipped with flashers, signal systems or radio. The purchase price: over 500,000 euros.
Unlike the competition, BMW does not have a tank version of its current 7 Series BMW in its range. Since last year, Bavaria has again been offering vulnerable customers from the fields of business and politics a tank version of the BMW X5 of protection class VR6. To do this, the model is brought from its production facility in Spartanburg, USA, to Toluca, Mexico, where the conversion to a tank model takes around six weeks. The panes have thick, dark glass frames. The panes themselves are made of multilayer 30 millimeter thick safety glass and can only be partially opened at the front. Doors, roof, side frames and front wall are reinforced with elements made of high-strength safety steel. A splinter protection in the underbody protects against booby traps, while there is an additional armored pane behind the rear seat bench, which protects the occupants against attacks from behind.
“The floor armor protects against splinter penetration in the event of explosions by type DM51 hand grenades,” explains Johannes Lacher, Product Manager of the BMW X5 Protection, “on special request, there is an extended underbody armor with fiber composite materials that also withstands attack with HG85 hand grenades. As additional special equipment A specially armored roof is available to protect against drone attacks with explosive charges of the DTG5 category. ” The combination of body armor and safety glazing enables effective protection against fire with handguns and long weapons with ammunition up to caliber 7.62 × 39 FeC / 7.62 × 39 SC, such as the AK-47 rapid-fire rifle, which is widely used around the world. “In addition, the passenger cell can withstand lateral blasts of up to 15 kilograms of TNT from a distance of four meters,” says Johannes Lacher. The various armourings ensure that the BMW X5 Protection VR6 weighs around 3.2 tons instead of the usual 2.4 tons Tons on the scales and becomes a four-seater due to its weight. Since the vehicles in the protective columns are often moved extremely dynamically, the Bavarian from Mexico is powered by a charged 4.4-liter V8 with 390 kW / 530 PS, which corresponds to the BMW X5 M50i. Protection class VR6 is used in particular by the police, BKA and LKA, as well as an escort vehicle in columns of politicians and in the embassy service. In addition, some special police units are on the move in vehicles of this protection level. According to BMW, around 80 percent of the vehicles are used by authorities and organizations.
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