The Government's Chevrolet Suburban Armored SUVs Undergo Heavy Testing

GM Defense has delivered its first prototype of an all-new armoredHeavy-Duty Sport Utility Vehicleto the US Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS).

This marks the completion of Phase 3 of a contract awarded to GM Defense in 2021. While the vehicle pictured here looks just like aChevrolet Suburban, it's a purpose-built machine that endeavors to get around past problems associated with government-spec armored vehicles.

GM Defense has designed the Heavy-Duty Sport Utility Vehicle (HD SUV) to accommodate armoring from the get-go, eradicating the need for the timeous teardown and rebuilding practices required when armoring a vehicle with an aftermarket company. The company says this was done to improve efficiency, provide a high-quality product, and reduce the lead time in bringing these vehicles into official duty.

Previously, the DSS armored Suburbans through independent up-armoring specialists. Because regular Suburbans aren't designed to cope with the strain of heavy armoring, they couldn't perform as intended. As such, acceleration was blunted, and maneuverability suffered.

Diplomatic vehicles are often required to deal with challenging environments and terrain as diplomats are placed worldwide, which is whyBMW also builds armored cars. GM also ceased production of the Suburban HD chassis in 2018, which caused a problem as this was the only chassis capable of holding the additional weight that comes with armoring.

The DSS decided to offer contracts to various companies and awarded deals to GM Defense for the HD SUV seen here and Batelle for armoredFord ExpeditionSUVs.

GM Defense's latest batch of HD SUVs is being touted as superior. A delegation of DSS officials, led by Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security, Gentry Smith, formed part of the demonstration tests.

"The prototype vehicle had good acceleration, handled better in the turns, and the heavy-duty anti-lock braking system was far superior to our aftermarket vehicles. You could really feel the stability and performance in the redesigned chassis," said Smith.

These vehicles use Chevy's HD truck lineup components and will reportedly be built on a unique body-on-frame chassis.