The Transporter: Driving an armoured Plasan Sandcat

As expected, the forward view is very commanding, with no distortion through the four-inch-thick armoured windscreen, but the side view (also through thick bulletproof glass) is restricted by the narrow opening that’s dictated by the need to keep weight up high to a minimum.

The dashboard is lifted straight out of the Ford truck, complete with steering wheel boss indentation for a blue oval and ‘Super Duty’ proudly moulded on the passenger side.

Thanks to this mass-production componentry, the interior feels immediately user-friendly, with clear instruments. A quick glance around confirms that the major controls, pedals and stalks are in their expected positions, then a turn of a pleasingly ordinary key fires up the 6.7-litre Power Stroke diesel V8 and its no-nonsense, industrial rumble.

Rated at 325bhp and a generous 725lb ft of torque, the V8 takes a determined push on the accelerator to overcome the inertia of the Sandcat’s 7200kg kerb weight. Initial acceleration is leisurely, but there’s a surprising surge of speed when it’s demanded, as the 10-speed automatic transmission kicks down a couple of gears, accompanied by a loud roar from the engine compartment and exhaust.

Typical traffic speeds can be maintained with a bit of forward planning, up to a limited 65mph maximum, and it’s possible to imagine a single-minded police driver making good progress towards a conflict, especially with blues and twos blaring and traffic startled from the Sandcat’s path.

No matter your speed, the brakes require a firm push to retard the plentiful momentum, and there’s no escaping the weight and the high centre of gravity in corners, as body roll builds and the steering’s precision fades as the weight loads up the outer wheels. Mind you, with all that weight to crush road imperfections, the Sandcat rides surprisingly comfortably.

The tyres play their part in the dynamics, of course. The Sandcat is shod with 285/70-profile, 19.5in Michelin X Multi D rubber – a widely available truck tyre that’s designed for heavy-duty loads more than car-like steering responses. A bigger tyre is available, but this one affords a tighter turning circle.

The tyres aren’t bulletproof, but they can run when flat, thanks to Hutchinson hard-rubber inserts inside the tyre, which allow mobility at up to 50mph for up to 50 miles after being punctured by gunfire.

The Michelins have an on-road tread pattern (appropriate to the Sandcat’s likely urban operations), so they quickly become clogged with clay during our off-road photoshoot, requiring the Ford shift-on-the-fly 4WD low range to be swiftly engaged to maintain forward progress.

Of course, we can’t test the key role of the Sandcat, which is to transport a squad of fully equipped security personnel safely into a hail of bullets, but the interior feels spacious, with its compact fold-up seats making the most of its floor space and sufficient head room for you to walk about inside at a gentle stoop.

Vehicles like this also need to carry equipment and mount weapon racks, riot shields and a plethora of communication gear, including links to helicopters, so free space will be at a premium once it’s fully fitted out.

If there’s anything that might need addressing for UK use, it’s the side and rear-three-quarter visibility, which are compromised by the narrow side windows, although it’s easy to understand why that design trade-off is necessary.

And that’s what the Sandcat is about: providing a secure, intuitive-to-drive mobile base for security forces facing lethal threats. Think of it as an agile, impregnable truck, rather than a hazy 4x4, and it feels brilliantly suited to its objective.

Who designs armoured vehicles?

Three years after graduating from Coventry’s vehicle design course in 1998, Nir Kahn moved to Israel. He then approached Plasan, one of the country’s few car-related businesses, and eventually landed a design job.

He joined nine days before the 9/11 attacks in New York and went to work immediately on the project that would change his and Plasan’s fortunes: the ‘fastback’ Humvee. The shape stemmed from the need to maintain clearance from a blast from a rooftop missile launcher, and the curvy body was possible thanks to Plasan’s composite armour technology.

“It was a bit of a shock in design terms at the time, and I remember the boss saying: ‘It can’t look like this. A military truck has to be a big, square practical shape,’” recalls Kahn. “But he also recognised that if we could pull it off, it would be a breakthrough.”

When the US military launched its MRAP programme for mine-resistant vehicles in response to the deepening war in Iraq in 2006, Plasan’s retrofit-armour Humvee became one of its key vehicles, as it was effective and quick to put into production at scale.