Development and Features of the Toyota Land Cruiser Armored Vehicle BR 7

1. Introduction to Armored Vehicles

Toyota Land Cruiser Armored Vehicle; Armored vehicles are one of the most common categories of combat and support military equipment. The first armored vehicles appeared during the First World War. The vast majority of researchers agree that the armored car “adays”, created by engineer M. Laids in 1902, became the progenitor of armored vehicles. Unlike armored vehicles, an armored vehicle is a vehicle that is used to transport troops and various goods. In addition, today in a peaceful life, armored cars are used in order to ensure the protection of various individuals.

The modern world is getting smaller and time as a resource becomes more important. And in such an environment, armored vehicles are increasingly important in protecting personnel and hijacking. Protection, security, and defense are the three main reasons why armored cars are developed.

In today’s world that is full of risks and conflicts, the need for the development of civilian armored cars to ensure and guarantee the security of individuals and organizations has vital importance. An armored vehicle is a civilian vehicle that is used in areas of unrest, conflict, and war. In addition, governments and organizations also use civilian armored vehicles to transport high-profile individuals from one location to another. In many developing countries, civilian armored vehicles are used to transport money between companies, banks, and departments. Because of the high safety and low weight of the Toyota Land Cruiser vehicle, it has been decided to be mounted on this vehicle. In this study, the technical specifications of the Toyota Land Cruiser armored vehicle BR 7 were reviewed in detail.

2. History and Evolution of the Toyota Land Cruiser

The off-roader Toyota Land Cruiser turned 70 in 2021, which is an incredibly long period for the car. Even with some attention to the model’s history, it becomes clear that the car will remain in demand for many more years due to its balanced characteristics and high reliability. The level of comfort provided by the Land Cruiser is prioritized over safety among the future owners of the cars from this auto brand. The car has a long history: it began in 1951, and during all these years more than 12 million cars have been sold. Let us consider in more detail the history of the company’s flagship and its new version.

Toyota has produced the Land Cruiser model for 70 years. The model was a single vehicle consisting of three doors and equipped with a 3.4-liter 6-cylinder engine developing 77 horsepower. In 1955, the legend received additional features – the front axle developed from 1 to 380 kW. Four years later, in 1959, the first models of the Toyota Land Cruiser – 4- and 6-cylinder diesel engines – were presented at the Tokyo Motor Show. Ten years later, a new version of the Land Cruiser developed by the BR model for an hour was presented with a six-cylinder petrol engine, becoming the longest of the single-arm car of that time, with 3,200 kW and 200 horsepower. Since then, features have been constantly improved to create a new feature. For example, a mixture of cars, cars, and cars have been gradually replaced by more mild cars with more technological interior designs, better behavior, and electric fixtures. Also, the armored Land Cruiser has been supplemented.

3. Armoring Levels and Standards

Governments and industry groups have established various systems for classifying the level of protection provided by armored passenger vehicles. These classifications generally consist of a series of levels that define a maximum mass value or bullet energy that a vehicle is allowed to handle without degrading its armoring. Similarly, they define threat levels based on caliber diameter and bullet mass or energy. Armored vehicles can be tested using many methods and according to many standards. Ballistic testing is usually performed indoors according to a specified standard using threat-representative ammunition. After the vehicle is tested and passes the requirements, it is issued a certification. A certification usually delineates the threat level that the vehicle was tested against and can provide other information such as the maximum allowable V50 of a vehicle when it does not fully satisfy a requirement.

Level of Protection Armoring classification systems categorize armored vehicles based on their level of protection. The higher the category, the greater the level of protection it provides. Most classifications are based on a system of three or even four classes; in addition, a few classifications have a lower class called the “shell-out” class, which applies to non-armored vehicles or quickly armoring vehicles.

Zero-Condition Threat The zero-condition threats used for armoring classifications are commonly based on classic anti-personnel, anti-vehicle ammunition. For ratings defined by energy, these threats are based on weapons that produce a large final kinetic energy in the target. For ratings based on mass, the threats are based on a caliber for which there are no frangible-core bullets, forcing the projectile to have a large mass.

Ballistic Limits The covered test area defines the classification. In other words, rating standards differ by regions. Europe and the USA use the interior test area, so they must accomplish the armoring standard in order to acquire the relevant certification. If they wish to test their vehicles in Japan, they send their vehicles to a Japanese facility that has an indoor range with a long range capability of about 100 m. Situations are inversely true for Japan.

Regional standards Vehicle manufacturers have to take regional standards, laws and regulations into consideration when they are trying to sell their products, including armored personal carriers, wheeled ambulances, and cash/ valuables carriers. These standards and regulations differ across the countries and regions, and the protection level of standard-version vehicles can differ based on the specific region. For example, a vehicle with a 9 mm caliber protection level in the USA would have an 11 XM 39 caliber protection level in Japan. Only in rare cases do regional ratings converge to a single standard; for instance, the USA and the European standards provide the same protection rating (9 mm) in order to trade their special-model armored vehicles.

4. Key Features of the Toyota Land Cruiser Armored Vehicle BR 7

Toyota Land Cruiser Armored Vehicle; Despite its relative smallness, the Toyota Land Cruiser Armored Vehicle BR 7 features a V8 Twin-Turbo engine with a 4.6 L capacity, which produces 400 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque. As a result, the car may accelerate to 130 km/h (80 mph) in a mere 11.8 seconds and can attain a maximum speed of 210 km/h (130 mph). The range of the model is around 190 km (118 m), which is appropriate for active urban use. Should circumstances call for it, e.g., in the event of an extended city center lockdown, the BR 7 is created to spend over 20 hours at an idling speed and, of course, to fulfill a ten-hour-long mission in sectors with a 24-hour shift.

Another basically important feature of the Toyota Land Cruiser Armored Vehicle BR 7 is that it is not meant for stationary use only. It is highly mobile and proven to be so during testing. Equipped with the New Grade Run Flat System with the CPT made by Hutchinson Industry Inc., the BR 7 may travel without any creeping damages to the wheels and tires when they are totally flat. The car is equipped with a variety of control systems, backup batteries, and components that were designed to keep the car moving when the main engine and neither mechanism can operate. Such measures were undertaken in order to ensure that the vehicle with five doors and five seats is ready to drive at a maximum speed of 3 km/h; however, it was not yet tested because the speed was not required for the certification of the BR 7’s armoring A19-FB7/NIJ-4 (levels) ballistic protection.

5. Applications and Use Cases Toyota Land Cruiser Armored Vehicle

Applications:

1. Military Sector: – Operating in operational-tactical depth due to high performance. – Long-term intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions in the field. – Armed combat operations.

2. Security Sector: – Carrying law enforcement organizations’ special operations units in operations and congested areas. – Attack against underground shelters. – Transport of parcels into the area in enveloping operations, depending on necessity.

3. VIP Transport in civil operations: – Use for transporting VIP passengers. – To guarantee civil and police security by transporting important people who must be protected in high-risk areas or confrontations.

Use Areas: 1. Public Security Service 2. Security & Protection 3. Operations of Special Forces 4. SOBT / SWAT / EK/MKY Operations 5. VIP Transport 6. Political Authority Transport 7. Airport Security.

The BR 7 is designed by AYF Automotive to develop a multi-role scout and combat vehicle meeting the developing needs of military and law enforcement organizations. It is also designed to be integrated into the command, control and information systems and to have logistical support. It is designed to meet both military and civilian standards. It can withstand all threats at level BR7. It has a 4×4 or 6×6 wheel drive option. The basic version, 4×4, has a diesel or petrol engine to develop 290 PS and a maximum speed of 135 kph. It has a 600 km cruising range and 3 km outside of unimproved roads. The passenger, driver and cargo compartments are independent of each other. Armoring elements protect the vehicle’s systems from mine, hand-made and ballistic threats at all-round level BR7. Ballistic windscreens are dismountable. It can be operated from two different mantlets. Each mantlet is equipped with self-defense weapons with 360-degree monitoring capability.

6. Conclusion and Future Developments

We have thus re-established the potential relevance of the subject within this master thesis. Presented in short, and consequently, in the light of the mentioned experience and expertise, the Toyota Land Cruiser Armored Vehicle BR 7, the design and development of which was the subject of this master’s work, and whose first photograph is disclosed in this paper. The Toyota Land Cruiser Armored Vehicle BR 7 can serve as an illustration of a highly technically-advanced armored vehicle of its class that is already “present” in operational service. The main technologies implemented within the BR 7 design and produced vehicles were presented with brief basic explanations. The paper presents diagrams of its layout, photographs of vehicle key poles to provide a visual experience with the vehicle’s capabilities, brief explanations that will help the reader to appreciate the provided pictures, and some examples of gunfire tests that used BR 7 and represented only a part of the already performed weapon tests that proved the vehicle’s excellent operational protection.

Concerning future developments, automated features that can offer new operational capabilities will be required as the close-in fighting capability of vehicles, as presented in this paper, may soon be extended also to its non-crewed ground vehicles (drones), which will require advanced command & at least semi-autonomous driving features. The same comment applies to some vehicle protection features, as the equivalent of an automated system that protects the vehicles for close-in weapons will soon be required for smaller, short-range, and easy hiding rudimentary uncrewed vehicle killers (already present) that are effectively a missile with an RC controller and a camera, a cheaper model of already wider represented armed drones. Hostile or shattered cities that often become the official army self-developed as well as the opponent’s operated swarm non-crewed-vehicle or small coordinated drones are used offensively alongside high-speed attack unmanned combat aircraft. These operations will also add protection of all the vehicle’s surfaces to at least a systems-of-guns-on-vehicle drone, coupled with a situational awareness sub-system that is linked with many potential ground target recognizer modules to allow for many of them to fire together and then move together, such as all along a battle front. Administering and securing the safety of human and unit physical, as well as other mentioned resources, suffer forces a shift in military warfare.

Toyota Hilux Armored Vehicle