Armed response companies in South Africa seek armoured protection for vehicles

Posted by jonckie in May 18th 2010

We have previously written about armoured vehicles on the Road Safety Blog. This was done in a blog posts titled “Armoured vehicles protecting safety of drivers in South Africa”.
I was fortunate to meet the MD of Armormax S.A. and take a few photos of the door and window of a vehicle that was shot at. We had a brief discussion on bulletproof vehicles and the concerns by many affluent business leaders about their safety.

But would it be like sitting inside a vehicle with and without armoured protection when this vehicle is being shot at? How can armed response drivers enhance their safety from attacks and hijackings?

We would like to share the above video to illustrate how armed response companies are now using this protection against violent attacks from criminals. In a move unprecedented in the South African security industry, a leading security company has had its response vehicles armoured by Armormax SA.

The contract entailed the armouring of over 700 vehicles across SA, using Armormax proprietary lightweight armour. This armour protects the response officer whilst in the vehicle, as well as providing a ballistic sound barricade behind which the officer can exit the vehicle and return fire.

With over 18 000 residential robberies, and 246 000 residential burglaries reported in SA during the 08/09 SAP crime stats report, and with the majority of the offenders being armed, the risk to their reaction officers has remained unacceptably high. Every time a reaction officer responds to an alarm, he is putting his life on the line for their clients.

Armormax SA has just been appointed as the African hub for level B6 armoured vehicles built under license from International Armouring Corporation. This means that they will build most of the level B6 vehicles destined for countries within the African continent. Armormax SA specializes in the armouring of luxury vehicles to level B4 (High powered handgun) or a level B6 (High powered rifle e.g. AK/ R4/R1).

Armormax have seen a steady increase in demand for bullet resistant vehicles since commencing operations in SA three years ago, and although a predominantly B4 market, what is currently significant is the increase in queries for level B6 vehicles. The clientele is predominantly SA based, and consists mainly of businessmen and families concerned about their security.