SVI Engineering, the manufacturer of armoured vehicles, has unveiled its new MAX 3 six-wheel Land Cruiser at the Africa Aerospace and Defence Show, which was held this past weekend at the Waterkloof Air Force Base in Gauteng.

Like the standard version of the MAX 3, this new variant is built on Toyota’s trusty Land Cruiser 79 chassis and likewise retains the Japanese firm’s proven 4.5-litre V8 turbodiesel powertrain. What sets the MAX 3 Six-Wheeler apart, of course, is the upgrade from the standard two axles to three.

The six-wheel concept unveiled at AAD2022 is based on the MAX 3 Double Cab body style, though this new axle configuration will also be available on the company’s MAX 3 Single Cab and MAX 3 Troop armoured personnel carrier.

The addition of a third axle means the MAX 3’s Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) can be safely increased to 5 500 kg. This opens the door to numerous military and security applications, including the fitment of various weapon systems, cargo-carrying options and even field ambulance concepts.

In order to keep the cost and complexity of the system in check, the additional axle is non-driven. Even so, the already impressive go-anywhere ability of the standard vehicle is enhanced as the extra axle provides increased flotation over soft surfaces.

The six-wheeler version of the MAX 3 Double Cab is also fitted with an intelligent anti-drone solution. In modern warfare, drones are used not only for reconnaissance but also as weapons capable of destroying key infrastructure or attacking soldiers on the ground.

The anti-drone system offered by SVI employs radar to locate, identify and track incoming hostile drones. The information is relayed to the battle management system (BMS) connected to the automated grenade launcher (AGL). The BMS determines the trajectory of and distance to the drone, intercepting and disabling the pilotless device via close-proximity grenade explosions.