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| America's Armor Vehicles |
| News - Ballistic protection |
| Tuesday, 19 May 2009 10:47 |
|
When Barack Obama was elected president, America got more than just a new leader. It also got a new car. A foot taller than all the other Secret Service cars and loaded with the newest advances in probably unnecessary technology, it caused a media stir on Inauguration Day. In a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, automobile reporter Dan Neil wrote, "Barack Obama's new limo -- code-named Stagecoach -- is a massive, mobile redoubt, a cross between a Cadillac and a hardened missile silo."
Neil speculates that America's new 15,000-pound First Car has several inches of outer armor, an undercoating of Kevlar and other materials to prevent damage from grenades and bombs beneath it, thick bullet-resistant glass in all windows and an interior air system made to prevent the entrance of poisonous gases. Combine those measures with "run-flat" tires that will drive safely even when shot out, and you've got something quite effective against everything from a mob of people carrying pitchforks to commandos with high-powered weapons.
But if you want your own version of a Stagecoach, don't call its maker, General Motors Corp. Even though GM could use the business, it's not going to sell you one. In fact, you can't even buy a used version because they're destroyed and replaced every four years. Instead, you'll need a company like the International Armoring Corp., with plants around the world that equip cars with armor. In its 16-year history, IAC has sold 5,500 armored vehicles in 58 countries.
Armament options are similar to Stagecoach, but not as intensive. All armor is hidden: The entire passenger compartment, including pillar posts and floorboards, is sheathed from inside with ordnance- and shrapnel-stopping material. There is a balancing act here: Retrofitting is done to existing cars that were never meant to carry that much weight. That can make for sluggish handling, even though to survive an attack a car must be nimble enough to get away.
There are several international standards for protection -- all based around what kind of firepower you think you might encounter. IAC uses the European "B" system, and its two most popular ratings are B4 and B6. A B4 will stop a .44 Magnum. If you worry less about Dirty Harry and more about the Taliban, a B6 rating will defend against an AK-47, an M-16 or a high-powered rifle such as a .308 Winchester. To stop armor-piercing rounds, you'll need a B7, usually requested for heads of state. A B4 and above will thwart explosive devices from underneath the car, protect the fuel tank and provide run-flat tires. Extras such as a bullet-proof battery, dual-ram bumpers and an internal oxygen system are available. It's all a matter of cost and weight.
IAC can armor almost any newer model of automobile, from Porsches to Suburbans. If you bring your own car, IAC will fit it to a B4 level for about $48,500, and a B6 level will set you back around $65,000.
Once you've pimped your ride, you or your driver will need to enroll in one of the many schools around the country teaching evasive driving. Head out, for example, to Willow Springs Raceway, in the arid high desert of southern Kern County in California, next to Edwards Air Force Base, where the Rick Seaman Stunt Driving School is located. Chris Christensen, one of the school's trainers, stripped to the waist and dangling a cigarette from his lips, will take you for a demonstration ride in a dented Chevy Caprice. He starts slowly with a couple of sideway skids, then accelerates, roaring the unmuffled, V-8 powered car up to 40 mph. Deafening screeches of tires and clouds of black, acrid smoke accompany neck-snapping changes in direction. He makes a series of 90-degree, high-speed turns, mixes in several 180s and a 360. Then comes the coup de grâce: a reverse 180. Taking the car down a ramp backwards at 50 miles an hour ("You have to be going at least 50," he explains while driving), he whipsaws it around until it heads forward again.
Source: Reuters
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