Merely weeks after acquiring a Toyota Fortuner armoured by Global Specialised Vehicles (GSV), a customer survived a barrage of AK-47 and .45 calibre fire to his vehicle, which was hit 40 times.
The client bought his armoured SUV from a dealership last month, and had only put 2 000 km on the odometer when he was attacked one evening whilst leaving his place of work in a rural area. Assailants fire 40 rounds from a 7.62 mm AK-47 and a .45 calibre weapon at his vehicle in what was a well-orchestrated ambush.
The vehicle was hit on the left side doors, pillars, armoured roof lining, window glass, rear side, and rear quarter. The B6 level armour (protecting against assault rifles, including AK-47, R1, and R5) managed to prevent any rounds from entering the Fortuner’s cabin. As no vital mechanical components were damaged, the client managed to drive to safety, and subsequently bring his vehicle in to GSV’s Johannesburg facility for repair.
After inspecting the Fortuner, GSV’s Jaco du Toit said the armour performed extremely well. It will take a couple of weeks to repair the bullet damage. In the meantime, the driver is shopping for another armoured vehicle.
“Criminals in South Africa have access to an exceptionally wide range of firearms, unlike any other country in the world. In this case, forensic analysis confirmed that the vehicle was struck by two different calibres: an AK-47 and a .45 calibre firearm,” GSV said. “This highlights a critical reality – traditional international discreet vehicle armour solutions, particularly Level B2 and Level B3 commonly used in regions like South America, are simply not designed to withstand the firepower criminals use here.”
The company said it develops and engineers specialised vehicle armour solutions tailored specifically for the South African threat landscape, ensuring maximum protection against high calibre and automatic weaponry, with a minimum ballistic solution of Level B4 including full vehicle armour, not just partial armour.
While GSV can armour vehicles up to B7 protection (against up to 30.06 armour piercing rounds), du Toit said this was overkill for most situations, and B6 (against 7.62×51 mm) is the highest protection most clients would need.
According to GSV director Yusuf Saber, the number of vehicles being armoured is on the rise, with GSV seeing an increase of 75% between 2023 and 2024. He said the demand for discreet armoured vehicles was a result of increased security threats and crime in South Africa.
Although GSV’s Fortuner was hit by 40 bullets, it is not the worst a GSV vehicle has survived – another incident some years ago saw over 100 rounds hit one of its up-armoured vehicles, without loss of life of those inside.
GSV was established in 2015 as a specialist fitting armour to luxury vehicles, providing discreet protection from B4 to B6 levels and higher. Although much of its work is armouring civilian vehicles ranging from BMWs to Range Rovers, GSV has also developed the Ghost – a fully road legal armoured personnel carrier.
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