Mumbai: Mumbai-based armored vehicles manufacturer Shield Armoring Private Limited on Thursday unveiled the PAMA-APC (Armoured Personnel Carrier), a tactical armored personnel carrier intended for use by defence and paramilitary forces.
The vehicle is already in operational service with the Maharashtra Police and the Arunachal Pradesh Police, with the company reporting that it is in final-stage talks with several other state forces for additional orders.
The carrier is built on the Toyota Hilux, a commercial pick-up truck widely used by military and police forces across Asia, Africa and the Middle East for its durability and ease of maintenance.
Shield Armoring has retained the vehicle's 2.8-litre four-cylinder diesel engine, which produces 201 bhp and 500 Nm of torque, paired with a 4x4 drivetrain and manual gearbox.
Armoring Private Limited said that the combination delivers adequate performance across off-road terrain, urban conflict zones and border areas, with a ground clearance of more than 200 mm and a wheelbase of 3,085 mm.
Measures 4,900 mm in length, 1,730 mm in width and 2,210 mm in height, the vehicle seats six in a 1+5 configuration, one crew member up front and five in the rear.
It is designed to remain manoeuvrable in narrow urban lanes while offering enough internal space for personnel and mission equipment.
An operational range of roughly 400 miles is claimed, which would allow sustained deployment without frequent refueling.
Protection is rated to CEN B6 (also written BR6) under the European standard EN 1063 - a level that covers fire from high-powered rifles including the 7.62x51mm NATO round.
The armoring uses certified ballistic steel throughout the body, multi-layered bullet-resistant glass, and a reinforced roof to guard against fire from elevated positions.
State police forces across the country have in recent years expanded their fleets of armored vehicles in response to Maoist insurgency operations in central India, counter-terrorism deployments in Jammu and Kashmir, and unrest in the northeastern states.
The central government's paramilitary units, including the CRPF, BSF and ITBP operate imported or domestically produced APC variants, but state police procurement has remained more fragmented, relying on a mix of older Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, modified commercial platforms and locally armored trucks.
About Shield Armoring
Shield Armoring was founded in 2011 by Ram Singh Rathor and Surinder Singh and operates a 45,000 sq ft manufacturing plant in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra.
The company makes armored versions of several commercial vehicles, including the Toyota Fortuner, Toyota Land Cruiser, Mercedes-Benz models, BMW and Range Rover, for corporate, banking, law enforcement and executive protection clients.
