SVI Engineering, leading specialist manufacturer of armoured products, has revealed an all-new B6 Stopgun V2.0 kit for the Hino 500 Series, developed in response to a sharp increase in truck hijacking incidents across South Africa.
While the new armouring package shares its concept with the popular Stopgun V2.0 kit already available for bakkies such as the Toyota Hilux, Toyota Land Cruiser 79, Ford Ranger and Nissan Navara, it furthermore features a number of model-specific enhancements making it suitable to a truck cab.
Nicol Louw, Business Development Director at SVI, says clients contacted the Bashewa-based company seeking ways to reduce the risk of hijacking and ultimately protect their drivers. Courier companies, too, increasingly require a method of protecting their cargo.
“According to the latest crime statistics provided by the South African Police Service for the second quarter of 2022, the number of reported truck hijackings across the country has increased by nearly 25 percent year on year, and by more than 150 percent compared with the same period in 2020,” points out Louw.
“Our new Stopgun V2.0 kit for the Hino 500 represents a cost-effective B6 armouring solution that allows security forces, mining companies and other firms escorting valuables in transit to counter this increased threat level.”
The Hino 500 Stopgun V2.0 kit.
The semi-discreet kit for the Hino 500 offers cabin occupants B6 protection against assault rifles, including AK47 and R1. Just like the version conceived for bakkies, the Hino 500 package eschews the widely used double-door system in favour of unobtrusively integrated door armour, along with upgraded door hinges to handle the additional mass of the various armouring components.
The Hino 500 kit additionally gains secondary bolt-action door locks as well as an upgraded cab-tilting mechanism to ensure unhindered access to the powertrain for servicing requirements. In addition, nose armour is cleverly concealed behind the vehicle’s standard grille.
A split windscreen is utilised, while flat ballistic glass is likewise fitted to each window frame to allow for fuss-free replacement should damage be sustained during an attack. In addition to the aforementioned integrated door armour, all pillars, all glass and part of the firewall gain B6 bullet-resistant protection. The roof, too, is armoured, while the underfloor section gains protection courtesy of custom-fabricated armoured steel plates.
Jaco de Kock, CEO of SVI, says the company has a proud history of building numerous types of armoured vehicles to meet the varied needs of its clients.
“Our product catalogue includes everything from civilian and security vehicle armour to armoured guardhouses, bullet-resistant vests and military-spec armoured personnel carriers. We have even armoured locomotives powering long trains of high-value cargo through parts of Africa. And we’re just as proud of the latest addition to our range, the Stopgun V2.0 kit for Hino 500 trucks.”
De Kock says SVI is now taking orders for its new Hino 500 Series armouring solution, with the first production slots at its factory outside Pretoria scheduled for January 2023. The project build time is two months.
Cost.
Hino 500 Stopgun V2.0 cabin armour: R544,779
