Who Uses Armored Vehicles?
Governments, police departments, businesses, and private clients all use armored vehicles, and each group buys a different kind. Alpine Armoring's clients include United States federal agencies, more than 75 foreign governments, the United Nations, NGOs, Fortune 500 companies, high-net-worth families, private VIP clients, and each group tends toward its own platform and protection level.
Federal agencies buy through GSA contract 47QSMS26D0064, which replaces open bidding with a purchase order. Embassies, United Nations missions, NGOs, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the World Bank run fleets abroad. The Chevrolet Suburban is the platform of choice for the United States Government, the Toyota Land Cruiser 300 serves austere and high-threat regions, and diplomatic protection details use the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Maybach. Visiting officials on short assignments often rent rather than buy, and foreign governments can pay through pre-approved Letters of Credit.
For SWAT, rescue, and active-threat response. The Roswell, New Mexico, and Richmond, Kentucky, police departments both run the Pit-Bull VX, Alpine Armoring's flagship tactical truck, which offers protection up to .50 caliber. Patrol units use the armored Ford Explorer Police Interceptor PPV for daily patrol. Local departments can fund both through federal and Homeland Security grant programs.
Banks and cash-in-transit operators run vans and trucks such as the Ford Transit and GMC Savana CIT, built from Level A9 to A12. Fortune 500 companies use them for executive protection, and journalists use them to work in conflict zones. Private clients, including executives, celebrities, professional athletes, and families, favor SUVs such as the Cadillac Escalade ESV and the Range Rover, which carry rifle-rated protection without looking armored. Medical teams in conflict areas run armored ambulances for evacuation.
The reasons differ by group, but the buying pattern holds: institutions buy fleets on contract, police buy tactical trucks on grants, and private clients buy one discreet vehicle at a time.