Johannesburg - South African armoured vehicle specialist SVI Engineering has unleashed its latest bullet-resistant beast, and it’s got six wheels.
The locally-designed Max 3 Six-Wheeler is built around the chassis of a Toyota Land Cruiser 79, and retains its 4.5-litre V8 turbodiesel engine.
But the big deal here is the new Max 3’s six-wheel configuration, which opens the door to more hardcore military and security applications as the vehicle’s GVM can now be safely increased to 5 500kg, SVI says.
The Max 3 Six-Wheeler was unveiled at the 2022 Africa Aerospace and Defence Show and the vehicle on display was fitted with an SVI anti-drone solution. Using radar, the system can locate, identify and track incoming hostile drones. This information is then relayed to the vehicle’s battle management system, which is connected to the automated grenade launcher.
The body of the Max 3 Six-Wheeler is made from armoured steel plating, which is said to provide a BR6 minimum protection level against assault rifles, but customers can upgrade to BR7.
SVI also upgrades the suspension system, as well as the wheels and tyres, in order to handle all the extra weight.
To reduce cost and complexity, however, the third axle is not driven, meaning this vehicle has a 6x4 drive configuration.
Furthermore, the six-wheel modification includes a track width correction to align the track of the rear wheels with that of the front, and there’s also an upgrade to disc brakes on the rear axles to improve stopping power.
“SVI has long been the leading the way in South Africa when it comes to providing class-leading armouring solutions to the civilian, security and military industries,” said Benny Jiyane, Chairman of SVI Engineering.
“But we’ve ramped up our operations significantly over the past few years and our massive stand at AAD2022 – the largest defence and aviation exhibition in Africa – is a showcase of both how far we’ve come and where we’re going,” Jiyane added.