The South African armored luxury vehicle specialist Armormax has turned its attention to the Land Rover Defender with two new armoring programs. According to the company, the Defender's layout and dimensions lend themselves well to armoring, so it has developed two levels of protection for its customers.

The B4 level of protection will stop rounds from all handguns entering the vehicle and is the most common type of firearm used in carjackings and all-out attacks. B6 protection steps things up to protect from attacks using commonly used rifles like the Kalashnikov AK47 and Remington R5. B6 protection will also reduce the effect of grenades.

At the time of writing, Armormax has completed its first three builds - one B4 model for demonstration purposes and two B6 versions for an existing client. The company prides itself on quality and finish, as well as the fact you can't tell just by looking at the vehicles from the outside that they are armored. After all, nothing says there is something valuable inside like an armored vehicle. Armormax points out a few giveaways inside the Defenders, like the rear windows no longer opening and the armor blanked-out sunroof. The sunroof does still operate, though.

Due to the original design of the Defender, Armormax found that on the heavier B6 armoring process, it could keep the third row of seats and not compromise cargo space despite a new rear bulkhead. The process can be carried out on all three current versions of the Defender: 90, 110, and 130.

To show how agile the Defender remains after B4 armoring, dealer customers can experience the vehicle at Jaguar Land Rover Experience Centre and test it out on the skidpad.

"We were massively excited to take on the Defender project as we really felt it would offer armored car owners great versatility and the safety they are looking for," says Michael Broom, Sales, and Marketing Manager for Armormax. "Since announcing the development of the Defender, we have already received another six orders and expect this to continue to be a popular choice. Having driven our own vehicle extensively before and after the armoring process, I can personally attest to it feeling no different to the standard car, other than the obvious peace of mind it brings you on South African roads."

Judging by the media reporting in the US, we would need these vehicles more, but South Africa has an extremely troubling carjacking problem. A total of 23,025 incidents were reported by the end of 2022, averaging 63 cars stolen daily at gunpoint.