Jankel Aigis 4x4

Received at 4wd.sofcom.com/4WD.html by email, 11/1999:

Jankel Aigis, manufacturer's specifications

loa 4875mm, width 2180mm, height 1860mm, wheelbase 2985mm, track 1800mm
GVW 5454kg
engine:
- 6.5 litre, V8, turbo diesel,
- gross output 190 B.H.P at 3400r, gross torque 385 lbs. ft at 1700r or
- 7.4 litre V8 petrol
- gross output 230 B.H.P at 3600r, gross torque 385 lbs. ft at 1600r
engine cooling: Standard GM cooling system. The engine bay is fully armoured with protection to the radiator by way of armoured steel vents backed by a high tensile steel mesh to protect against shrapnel. Aigis has been tested to between -30°C and +50°C.
Fuel And Exhaust System: Long range 45 US gallon capacity steel tank is mounted in-side steel armour with stainless steel muffler and single outlet.
transmission: GM automatic with 4-speed overdrive. (1st - 2.48:1, 2nd - 1.48:1, 3rd 1.00:1, 4th 0.75:1, reverse - 2.08:1)
transfer case: Two speed Borg Warner hi/lo selected from drivers cab. (hi-range 1.00:1) (lo-range 2.69:1), 2 wheel high, 4 wheel high and 4 wheel low drive selectable.
suspension: front is independent with torsion bar, rear is multi-leaf, semi elliptic two stage.
brakes: Uprated hydraulic dual power assisted brakes, front discs and rear drums.
dashboard and all controls retained from GM K-series chassis cab.
Aigis is fully serviceable at any General Motors Service centre, world-wide service support is offered by General Motors on all GM mechanicals.
Jankel Armouring Limited reserve the right to change the specification of the vehicle at any time.
Different body configurations are also available to fulfil many roles.

Two types of armoured vehicles are currently available to Police and Security Forces:
1. Up-armoured production vehicles such as Landcruiser, Suburban, G-Wagen and Land-Rover which offer poor performance, braking and reliability due to the weight of the armour.
2. Purpose built Military vehicles, which are expensive to run, require substantial back-up packages and are aggressive in appearance.

The Aigis family of vehicles was designed to overcome the problems identified above and offer a new generation of highly protected, discrete armoured vehicles. Jankel Armouring have secured orders for variants of Aigis from the UK Ministry Of Defence for service in the British Army for use in support of current peacekeeping operations and other requirements.

Aigis has the following key advantages over existing armoured 4x4 vehicles:
High levels of ballistic protection: Aigis has been designed and engineered from conception to protect upto 7.62x51 AP.
High levels of bomb blast protection: Aigis has a monocoque construction which is extremely resilient against side blast (30kg of Semtex at 6 metres) and roll over.
Blast floor: Aigis is fitted with a V shaped blast floor under the driveline in order to provide excellent protection against anti-personnel mines and hand grenades. This system also increases the protection and survivability against anti-vehicle mines, when additional internal safety equipment is utilised.
Fully armoured engine bay: Aigis has an engine bay which is fully armoured from 360° and designed for ease of daily maintenance and servicing.
Vehicle reliability: Aigis is based upon commercial off the shelf heavy duty General Motors mechanicals with a GVW rating of 5454kg which have an excellent reliability record which gives Aigis a long service life and low life cycle costs.
Payload: Approx. 1000kg depending on specification which does not exceed GVW rating of base mechanicals.
Ease of maintenance: Aigis is fully serviceable at any General Motors service centre with all key service items being available off the shelf. The under body armour is easily removable for servicing.
Discrete appearance: The armoured monocoque of Aigis is given a discrete appearance by use of moulded composite cosmetic panels to the wings, roof, bonnet etc.
Ease of use: Aigis offers key advantages to driver and crew with excellent visibility due to large glass areas and retention of GM systems such as air-conditioning, heating and dashboard.
Automotive aspects: The excellent General Motors base mechanicals provide Aigis with handling and performance characteristics similar to a non-armoured vehicle.
Derivatives: The simple design and construction method of Aigis allows it to be easily configured to many specialist roles including bomb disposal, cash in transit, urban reconnaissance, peacekeeping, VIP protection, public order intervention, weapons platform, information gathering and tactical intervention vehicle.

Aigis was conceived, designed, engineered as a purpose built armoured 4x4 which could offer the very highest levels of ballistic and bomb blast protection which it's civilian up-armoured 4x4 counterparts could not offer as their mechanicals had not been designed to handle the weight of armouring.

Mechanical Specification

Heavy duty General Motors K Series chassis with 5454kg GVW, payload between 500kg and 950kg subject to ballistic specification.
7.4 litre V8 petrol or 6.5 litre V8 turbo diesel options.
Power steering, air-conditioning, anti-lock brakes and low track and centre of gravity ensure good handling and comfortable driving.
Simple over engineered mechanicals can be serviced or replaced very easily a very long service life is ensured as components not over stressed.

Up-armouring a luxury civilian vehicle always compromises the vehicles performance, handling, braking and reliability as GVW is exceeded before any passengers or equipment are in the vehicle. No civilian 4x4 can be realistically armoured to armour piercing standard. Because of Aigis' wide track, large GVW and engine an AP protected vehicle is stable, handles well and can take a full complement of passengers and luggage and still not exceed GVW.

Ballistic / Bomb Blast Specification

7.62x51 armour piercing protection as standard, B6 7.62x51 NATO ball as an option.
Passenger compartment forms a blast cage and is fabricated from corrosion protected ballistic steel.
Unique fully armoured engine bay (front, sides, bottom and top)
Entire vehicle has blast floor offering mine / hand grenade protection.
Substantial overlaps around all door apertures and glassed areas.
Polycarbonate lined ballistic glass installed into large window apertures for wide field of vision.
Windows are designed for quick replacement and are fixed as standard with opening front quarter light.

The Aigis looks to the untrained observer like a large off roader and does not draw any undue attention, with internal flexibility to create any seating configuration required Aigis is the most versatile VIP luxury armoured 4x4 available that offers unrivalled levels of ballistic protection.

Internal / Comfort Specification

VIP Leather trimmed seats and Wilton carpets can be fitted.
Comprehensive entertainment and communication systems can be installed along with a whole variety of other defensive equipment. VIP version of Aigis can carry 5 people in total comfort

With a low cost method of construction, Aigis costs less than most conventional luxury civilian 4x4 vehicles and their respective armouring solutions, while not suffering from the problems that up-armouring of these civilian chassis creates.

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