How It Works-Amazing Vehicles

LAND

In countries like Nigeria, Cambodia, Venezuela,

Honduras, Mexico, Saudi A rabia and Oman,

kidnap-for-ransom is an everyday occurrence,

explains Kimball. For wealthy business people,

entrepreneurs and mid-level executives,

investing around $80,000 (approx £53,000) to

armour a vehicle that will keep themselves and

their families safe not only spares them the

emotional turmoil that such an attack would

involve – it makes fi nancial sense too.

For these clients, keeping a low profi le is

paramount; they’re keen not to draw attention to

themselves with bulky, fl ashy autos that

advertise their status. That’s why TAC armours its

cars from the inside out, leav ing the classic shell

of the vehicle in tact, with little hint of its inner

strength. “These tend to be luxury vehicles,”

explains Kimball, “and we want to make sure we

put them back as close to the original as possible.”

The entire frame of the car is reinforced w ith

cutting-edge materials, including high-hardened

ballistic steel, Kevlar, aramid fi bres and

polyethylene, while the windows are replaced

with bulletproof glass. By the time the TAC team is

fi nished, the vehicle is bombproof.

Kimball is so confi dent in the materials the

company uses that he once got behind the wheel

of one of their outfi tted cars, had an employee aim

an AK-47 at his head and instructed them to

discharge a round of bullets. Video ev idence on

YouTube shows Kimball didn’t so much as fl inch

as the bullets cracked lac y patterns into the top

surface of the bulletproof glass. James Bond, eat

your heart out.

But all that armouring comes at more than just

fi nancial cost. There are performance trade-offs

as the added weight affects the way the vehicle

handles and responds. “Ultimately I need a

vehicle that I can turn, that I can stop, that I can

do things to manoeuvre out of a kill zone,” points

out secure transportation expert Joe Autera, who

spent over a decade driv ing high profi le clients in

some of the most dangerous locations on Earth,

and now trains others to do the same.

The fi rst vehicle specifi cally designed to

protect against the world’s most widely

used fi rearm, the AK-47

BMW X5 Security Plus

Bullet-resistant

glass

Laminate security glass

with a polycarbonate

coating protects

occupants from bullets

and glass shrapnel.

Safety features

The car boasts run-fl at tyres,

a self-sealing fuel tank, and

an attack alarm and intercom

system that lets occupants

communicate with the

outside world without leaving

the safety of the vehicle.

Infrared cameras like the

BMW Night Vision

system allow drivers to

perceive their

surroundings even in

pitch-black darkness.

Instead of visible light,

which our eyes are built

to detect, they ‘see’ the

infrared part of the

electromagnetic

spectrum. As living things

give out heat in this

portion of the spectrum,

the camera can pick out

occupied vehicles and

potential human threats.

How infrared cameras work

Night vision range

An infrared camera ‘sees’

much further than high

beam headlights.

Thermal image

The electrical signals are

converted into a visible

image and projected

onto the driver’s control

display unit.

Detection

A special lens focuses

the infrared light

emitted by all of the

objects in view, and an

infrared detector

converts this into

electrical signals.

BMW aims to create

security vehicles that drive

like their normal models

Illustration by Ed Crooks