Big Solutions sometimes come in small packages.

June 18, 2005 "Route Irish" is the local name for the heavily travelled, and highly dangerous road between the secure Green Zone in Baghdad and Baghdad International Airport. There have been so many ambushes and IED explosions on that route that all U.S. State Department personnel were forbidden from travelling the route by road last December (2004) and must use helicopters instead. If you don’t have a helicopter at your disposal in Baghdad, as nearly all Military and civilian contractor personnel don’t, there’s really only one certain option if you wish to remain alive and that’s to travel in one of the heavily armoured Rhino Runner buses. Without a shadow of doubt, the Rhino Runner is the toughest bus on the planet – when the human value of the cargo is V.I.P. and above, it is the military’s vehicle of choice to provide safe ground transportation. Regular users of the vehicle in Baghdad include U.S. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, General Dick Myers, Saddam Hussein and all other V.I.P. prisoners. The stories surrounding the massive attacks that Rhino Runners have withstood border on the preposterous.Manufactured by Labock Technologies, of Florida, the Rhino Runner is a custom, hand-made bus built from chassis up.The common approach to an armouring solution for buses and minibuses (also SUVs and luxury cars) is to armour existing vehicles. The problem with armouring existing vehicles is obtaining a balance between protection and performance. Therefore, regular armoured buses are only protected against low-level threats, and offer no protection on the roof and floor.Instead of adapting armouring for an existing vehicle, Labock uses the most appropriate chassis and motors, and custom builds vehicles with protection against AP (armour piercing) bullets and significant bomb blast protection. The Rhino Runner is fully protected (sides, front, back, roof, floor, and even glass) against up to Type IV (NIJ standard) including NATO calibres. All the driver and passenger cabins are built using the company’s special materials and know-how, which is considerable. Amongst other inventions of the company, which was founded by a former Israeli commando just four years ago, are special composite bulletproof armour, which is so light that it floats in water, and one-way bulletproof glass that prevents bullets from getting to you, but enables you to shoot through the glass at those shooting at you.Rhino Runner busses are available in a range of seating capacities (17, 24 and 36) and configurations for purposes such as prisoner transport, ambulance, SWAT, command and control, and they can be made to order. Apart from the 360 degree ballistic protection, the vehicles have a side and back door and an emergency exit on the roof and run-flat tyres for when changing a tyre just isn’t a viable option.On November 27, 2004, a convoy of three Rhino Runner buses were midway to the airport on Route Irish when a suicide bomber driving a BMW sedan, heavily laden with explosives, veered in between the lead Rhino Runner, and the second Runner. From a distance of approximately two meters from the second bus, the terrorist detonated the explosives, estimated to be more than 250 pounds in weight. The huge explosion generated a crater more than 6 feet in diameter and 2 feet deep in the asphalt road, and created a dust cloud 1,000 feet long that took several minutes to dissipate.There were 17 military and civilian contractor passengers, plus a driver, on the second Rhino Runner bus at the time of the explosion. In the face of what veteran Army officers described as a "massive explosion", there were no injuries whatsoever."

http://www.gizmag.com/go/4178/


This amazing vehicle is built by a small company, Labock Technologies . You would think it would be built by General Dynamics, BAE, Lockheed Martin or United Defense. Increasingly, smaller companies are the ones coming up with the innovations for the War in Iraq. The more popular mine resistant vehicles are the Cougar and the Buffalo. The second vehicle we are going to look at is the Cougar.
Developed and produced by Force Protection Inc. is a multi-purpose, 12 ton mine protected armored patrol vehicle. The design uses a monocoque, bulletproof and blast-proof capsule fitted with transparent armored glass, which protects the driver and crew from small arms fire, mine blasts and IED. Typical roles for the vehicle are armored, mine protected troop transport for security, stability and peacekeeping missions, protected weapons platform, law enforcement special response vehicle, counter IED an EOD / Range Clearance vehicle. The vehicle can accommodate 10 passengers in a 4x4 configuration and 16 passengers in a 6x6 configuration. Cougar was selected to serve with the US Marine Corps as a Hardened Engineer Vehicle (HEV), to support engineer mine clearing and explosive ordnance disposal teams deployed in Iraq. As of June 2006, there are more than 130 Cougars and Buffalos in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since their deployment to Iraq in 2003 the Cougar and Buffalo vehicles employed with explosive ordnance disposal teams and engineers units have taken about 1,000 IED hits without a loss of life, said Wayne Phillips, a company vice president in charge of Marine Corps programs. The vehicle has proven to be superior to less protected vehicles, such as the up-armored Humvee or armored trucks.


http://www.defense-update.com/products/c/cougar.htm


There was a news report on this vehicle on ABC News on March 15th 2007. I'm glad these vehicles are getting the mainstream media's attention.
Now lets talk about the Buffalo.
The Buffalo heavily armored EOD vehicle follows the South African monocoque capsule protection concept with US manufactured automotive platform, offering protection from IEDs and up to 45 pound landmine explosion under any wheel and 30 pound mine explosion under the centerline protection. An upgrade package offers protection from Self Forged Fragmentation (SFF) mines. The vehicle is used with US forces in Iraq for route clearing and counter IED activities. Since their deployment to Iraq in 2003 the Cougar and Buffalo vehicles employed with explosive ordnance disposal teams and engineers units have taken about 1,000 IED hits without a loss of life, said Wayne Phillips, a company vice president in charge of Marine Corps programs.The Buffalo uses steel wheels and disc rollers which allow the vehicle to be driven over and detonate anti-personnel mines without sustaining damage. As a result, unusually large numbers of mines can be neutralized in a short period of time. The vehicle retains all round (including roof) ballistic protection from 7.62mm NATO ball cartridges. This armor is upgradeable to protect against Dragunov AP cartridges. In a recent incident that involved a Buffalo vehicle which ran over an anti-tank mine, the blast tore off a wheel and destroyed an axle on the vehicle. There were no casualties to the crew inside the Buffalo and the vehicle maintained its mobility and drove itself out of the minefield. It was repaired overnight and was back in operation the following day.
Differing from other EOD vehicles, The heavily protected Buffalo is a central element in the US Army's counter-IED 'hunter-killer' concept. that protects convoys against the threat of mines and IEDs. enables engineers to inspect suspected objects from safe distance, using the robotic arm and video cameras, operated from the relative safety of the protected cabin. large windows of armored glass provide good visibility to the sides of the vehicle, to enable effective operation on route patrols and dealing with suspected IEDs.
http://www.defense-update.com/products/b/buffalo.htm


The Buffalo vehicle is cool because it offers great protection with IED searching capabilites. It can also serve in clearing mine fields with its long mechanical arm being able to detonate explosives. Right now Force Protection is working on new variant called the Cheetah its smaller and is more suited to urban operations in terms of actually being able to fight back. It can be equiped with remote weapon systems, most likely grenade launchers and 50 caliber machine guns. Labock Technologies is also developing a smaller variant called the Rhino Raptor. It looks like an up armored Humvee, but I'm sure it offers much more protection.