“GM Defense Launches Revolutionary Armored Suburban Shield Vehicles for Qatar’s Special Forces”
GM Defense is providing state-of-the-art Suburban Shield armored vehicles to the Qatar Armed Forces and Special Forces Command for enhanced diplomatic safeguarding and VIP transit.
The Suburban Shield is constructed on General Motors’ full-sized truck and SUV platform. This vehicle integrates numerous commercial components, such as the chassis, exterior, powertrain, cabin, and braking systems.
The Suburban Shield boasts a newly-engineered, groundbreaking body-on-frame chassis combined with a suspension system, designed to support increased vehicle weight and performance requirements. The vehicle employs digital design methodologies and GM’s global quality control framework to enhance efficiencies during development while ensuring superb quality and performance benchmarks.
“GM Defense’s state-of-the-art Suburban Shield offers unmatched capabilities for the Qatar Armed Forces, courtesy of GM’s advanced technologies,” stated Steve duMont, president of GM Defense. “We engineered the Suburban Shield from the ground up as a reinforced vehicle employing GM’s premier practices and tools to ensure the reliability and superiority expected from a GM product. We believe this vehicle will empower the Qatar Armed Forces to effectively accomplish their essential diplomatic protection tasks, and we eagerly look forward to the Suburban Shield raising the standard of protective vehicles in the region.”
GM Defense incorporates protective armoring into the initial design and production phases, steering away from conventional aftermarket, disassembly, and refurbishment methods. Innovative design elements ensure the vehicle is not only secure but also reliable, meeting the performance standards of an OEM-manufactured vehicle while adhering to GM’s stringent commercial criteria.
“Our OEM-provided solution benefits from GM’s remarkable technologies, engineering acumen, and validation capabilities, combined with global quality management systems that standard defense contractors often lack,” remarked Bradley Watters, vice president of international business development for GM Defense. “With the Suburban Shield, GM Defense presents a distinctive solution that exceeds prior generation vehicles. We take pride in delivering this capability to the Qatar Armed Forces, which will assist in upgrading their legacy systems.”
The Suburban Shield offers independent armoring certification with various customization options and configurations tailored to meet client requirements. By leveraging GM’s industry-leading manufacturing and extensive global supply chain, GM Defense can rapidly and effectively supply armored vehicle fleets internationally, backed by GM’s vast sustainment and service network.
In addition to supplying Suburban Shields to selected international security agencies, GM Defense also provides specialized Suburban Shields to the U.S. Department of State’s (DoS) Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) for its Heavy-Duty Armored Sport Utility Vehicle program. The company has recently finalized several initial production vehicles for the law enforcement and security division of the DoS.
