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Putting SVI’s bulletproof glass to the test

TopAuto was recently invited to SVI Engineering’s facilities for a chance to see how its armoured cars are built, and how its armour solutions hold up.

The South African company, based in Gauteng, specializes in producing armoured vehicles including military-grade transport units as well as civilian cars that have been retrofitted to protect occupants from external threats.

The tour involved a walkthrough of the factory floor and we were able to get behind the wheel of a few of the vehicles SVI has put together, including a R3-million, fully-armoured Toyota Land Cruiser 300.

Additionally, a visit to SVI’s shooting range afforded an opportunity to see first-hand if its bulletproof glass is up to par.

Rifle-grade armour

SVI offers two grades of civilian-level armouring on its cars – B4 and B6.

B4 armour can withstand all handgun fire, up to and including rounds fired by a .44 Magnum.

With B4 grading, the body of the car is lined with kevlar sheets, and the windows are layered to be 21mm thick.

While this grade of armour offers less protection, it is cheaper and much lighter – usually adding between 200-300kg to the car – and is often used on the sedan models that are brought to SVI, said the company.

B6 armour takes this a step further, as the level of protection is raised to be able to withstand all small-arms fire, including assault rifles.

To achieve this, the kevlar sheets are replaced with steel plates and the glass is nearly doubled in thickness to 38mm.

The trade-off is that it is much heavier, as B6 armour can add anywhere between 500-1,000kg to a vehicle.

A single panel of the 38mm thick glass can weigh as much as 36kg, said one of SVI’s engineers.

Putting it to the test

At SVI’s new underground shooting range we were first given the chance to inspect the bulletproof driver’s-door window that would be sustaining fire to make sure there were no previous cracks or failures.

On the bench were a couple of different rifles for various testing phases, and we were handed an AK47 using 7.62mm ammunition.

Although we weren’t exactly allowed to spray the weapon like you’d see in a movie, a few shots into the window from roughly 20 metres away were equally exciting and between rounds, we were allowed to walk up and check how the glass was faring.

We were told that civilian-level armoured glass is not actually designed to be able to hold up in a sustained firefight. Rather it is meant to protect occupants from a surprise attack and allow them to quickly drive away.

The industry standard for B6 glass is to be able to take a minimum of three direct shots, however, we fired at least eight and not a single one went through.

Going back one last time to inspect the panel revealed how far the shards of glass can disperse outwards, at least five metres, illustrating how dangerous it would be to fire at it from point-blank range.

Below are the results of our testing experience with SVI’s assault-rifle grade bulletproof glass.


SVI Engineering bulletproof glass test


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