BY JAMES CARELESS
Learn how this Canadian armoured vehicle manufacturer is playing a major role in the defence of Ukraine through the production of mission-ready vehicles, all while achieving sustainability goals through improved fuel efficiency and lower emissions.
The strategic incorporation of commercial heavy-duty chassis into military and law enforcement fl eets represents a significant shift towards achieving higher sustainability, cost-efficiency, durability, and enhanced safety. This approach leverages the robustness and reliability of commercial vehicles, while capitalizing on their extensive safety innovations, adaptable platforms for various operational needs, and lower maintenance costs. By adopting commercial chassis, military and security forces can deploy vehicles that are tough and ready for rigorous tasks and aligned with sustainability goals through improved fuel efficiency and lower emissions. This synergy of commercial practicality with military precision creates an optimal balance for military and security users, ensuring that the vehicles are not just operationally effective but also economically and environmentally considerate. It’s a concept known as ‘dual duty’.
When it comes to building tough yet affordable military and security vehicles, Roshel Smart Armored Vehicles is ‘walking the talk’ on dual duty. Headquartered in Brampton, Ontario with manufacturing facilities in the GTA, Roshel is one of North America’s biggest producers of smart armoured vehicles for commercial and government organizations in North America. The company’s client list includes the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), US Department of State (DOS), NASA, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), National Defence (Canada), GardaWorld, Brink’s and others.
Roshel makes a wide range of armoured vehicles such as the combat-proven Roshel Senator MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle; the Senator Pickup, which is a multipurpose support vehicle tailored for carrying various advanced equipment such as counter-UAS systems and grenade launchers; the Senator APC specifi cally designed for law enforcement and border patrol operations; and the Senator ERV emergency response and rescue service vehicle. Roshel also makes commercial armoured vehicles for government entities and federal agencies throughout Canada and the United States; armoured tactical vans and buses for governmental entities and law enforcement agencies across North America; and armoured portable gatehouses, secured mobile guard booths and checkpoints.
Besides being tough, the Senator vehicle line has one thing in common: They are all based on commercial Ford chassis and motors, with Roshel’s rugged armoured bodies installed on top. This is a seismic shift away from traditional defence industry practices, according to Roshel Founder and CEO, Roman Shimonov. “Historically, most defence companies made bespoke armoured vehicles that are based on a range of different components and built from scratch,” he told CDR. “What Roshel has been able to do is to take commercial truck chassis and adapt them for military/ security use. Specifi cally, we’ve been able to upgrade these chassis to take the additional weight of our armouring to achieve a protection level comparable to military vehicles that are not based on a commercial vehicle. By doing this, we’re offering a range of military/security vehicles that are far more cost effective than their custom-built counterparts. Our vehicles’ costs are tens of percent lower than bespoke military vehicles, while most of the items to maintain it are widely available globally.”
THE STAR OF THE SHOW – THE SENATOR MRAP
Equipped with Roshel’s V-shape hull technology that provides maximum strength and protection for its occupants, the Senator MRAP delivers increased vehicle and crew survivability by reducing the effects of mine blasts and ambushes. The MRAP’s high ground clearance, four-wheel drive and 6.7L turbo diesel engine provides effi cient off-road capabilities. All told, it is a combat proven platform that has proved its ruggedness in conflict zones.
According to Roshel, using a V-shaped body design in mine-protected vehicles signifi cantly enhances their survivability while protecting the occupants during explosive attacks by landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). This is because the V-shape serves as a defl ective armour structure, dispersing the force of an explosion away from the vehicle’s cabin. It also redirects the blast wave and shrapnel to the sides, reducing the chances of severe injury or death to the occupants. The design absorbs and dissipates explosive overpressures as well, further enhancing the vehicle’s resistance to blasts.
At the same time, the MRAP is defi nitely a dual duty vehicle. The reason: “We’re using the Ford F-550 and F-600 chassis that offer 19,500 to 22,000 pounds GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) carrying capacity,” said Shimonov. “In addition to that, we have upgraded the axles in a way that they can take much higher payloads. We’re basically increasing its strength by an additional 40% to allow the vehicles to operate in different environments, including harsh conditions.”
Employing a commercial truck chassis offers many advantages to Roshel’s MRAP clients. For one thing, using a chassis that is being produced worldwide in vast quantities reduces per unit cost. For another, finding parts is much easier and cheaper on a per-unit basis than it is for custom-built military vehicles, which are manufactured in much smaller quantities. It is also easier to train and/or find mechanics who know the F-550/F-600 chassis for the very same reason, and to use support from non-military service centres if so required.
Roshel uses the same Ford F-550/F-600 chassis for its other Senator armoured vehicles. Practically speaking, the combination of this commercial platform and the company’s V-shaped hull technology are a direct response to the realities of ground warfare in Afghanistan and Ukraine. And as they learn more about these realities through combat, Roshel applies this knowledge to its vehicle design.
“With over 1000 vehicles that we deployed to Ukraine throughout the last two years, we have gained so much knowledge and expertise through the Roshel team on the ground who are monitoring and recording all of the deficiencies and things that need to be upgraded,” Shimonov said. “For instance, at the beginning of the war, mine protection wasn’t the biggest need for armoured vehicles in Ukraine. But since then, it has become a bigger and bigger priority. In fact, Ukraine is one of the dangerous places for armoured vehicles to drive, due to the number and variety of landm
ines that the Russians have deployed. As a result, Ukrainian troops count on the additional mine mitigation capabilities that we have built into the MRAP.” But how tough is tough? “Well, Roshel’s MRAP vehicle was certifi ed by NATO using a U.S.-based independent laboratory that tested the whole vehicle for its ballistic capabilities and blast resistance, using mines under the vehicle, under the wheels and on the sides,” he replied. “It turns out that our vehicle can take up to 25 kilos of TNT in an explosion. This is comparable to much bigger, much heavier, and much more expensive bespoke military vehicles.”
DESIGNED TO BE THE AFFORDABLE BEST Roshel Smart Armored Vehicles is a company driven by Roman Simonov’s vision and passion. “I was with the Israeli army for over 15 years,” he explained. “When I moved to Canada 11 years ago, I decided to create a company from scratch to build an armoured vehicle that would be smarter in the way it was designed, built, and maintained. This is why the Senator line of vehicles is not just tough and affordable, but comes with advanced electronic components that support remote connectivity and encryption capabilities for reconnaissance and surveillance operations.”
Roshel started manufacturing in 2016, and unveiled its fi rst Senator armoured vehicle in 2018. The market’s response was enthusiastic: “We received numerous orders from the U.S. government and Canada, including the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and State,” Shimonov told CDR. “From the start, our goal was to compete with the much bigger companies through the strength and affordability of our vehicles, and Roshel’s ability to customize them in an agile fashion to fulfi ll our customers’ unique and niche needs that bigger companies struggle to address.”
One way that Roshel does this is by building its vehicles in-house. “It’s an approach that is very different from all of our competitors: We don’t subcontract anything. We do everything under our roof,” Shimonov said. “To do this, we have over 400,000 square foot facilities around Mississauga and Brampton, including a new plant where we are able to engineer, build and test the vehicles from start to fi nish. Our biggest challenge is to fi nd the right ratio between the chassis’ engine capacities and its ability to carry payloads while protecting against the highest level of threats. To address this ratio optimally, we have designed collapsible ribs and spars using composite materials that allow us to significantly reduce the protection system’s weight without exposing the passengers to potential threats, especially when they’re in combat zones like Ukraine where different types of calibers of ammunition are being used.”
Quality control is top of mind at all stages of vehicle production. It’s not just a matter of building the very best vehicle for the money: Roshel’s people understand that a Senator MRAP on duty in Ukraine can’t just drive to the factory in Canada for repairs. “When it comes to quality control, we don’t have a second chance to ‘get it right’ and repair it at the plant,” said Shimonov. “Our vehicles go straight to the battlefi eld from here, so we want to minimize the chance of something going wrong – as much as possible. This is why we have implemented different, unique and very special ways to ensure that the quality is in place for our products, while meeting all health and safety standards for our employees.”
At the same time, Roshel is able to build fi ve vehicles a day, every single day. This is a tribute to the efficiency of its manufacturing processes, and the practicality of its designs. Although we innovate, we’re not reinventing the wheel,” said Shimonov. “We’re using a commercial platform that is capable of being upgraded to take additional weight and to meet the requirements of safety payload capacities. Of course, we are creating a unique capsule that is made out of multilayer steel and composite materials that can be bolted into the frame without compromising on safety. But we’re doing so in ways that leverage the benefits of using popular commercial chassis.”
MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN UKRAINE
To put it mildly, Roshel’s armoured vehicles are playing a major role in the defence of Ukraine. “Again, we have delivered over 1000 vehicles to Ukraine,” said Shimonov. “That’s more than any other company in this market, and it is an achievement that we are extremely proud of. We got our first orders for eight vehicles when the war had just started, and we got great feedback from Ukraine. This is why they asked different donors to give them more of Roshel’s armoured vehicles, due to their versatility in supporting multipurpose applications.”
Following that first order, Roshel received an order for 70 armoured vehicles from the European Union, which the company delivered within three months. Compared to the typically long production schedules in this market, such a turnaround time is mindboggling fast! This is because “it usually takes time to be able to ramp up the production, to find the employees, to have the machinery in place, and to have the supply chain working properly — especially back in 2022 when the world was coming off COVID,” Shimonov told CDR. “But we were able to get it done due to having everything under one roof, and employing a very aggressive, very motivated production team — one that now includes 200 refugees from Ukraine who are extremely motivated to support their country. As a result, we were able to deliver all 70 vehicles ahead of schedule. Then the Canadian government ordered 200 vehicles to be donated to Ukraine. We were able to build all vehicles within less than three months as well.”
Roman Shimonov is proud of his company and his people for making this happen, and rightly so. “I don’t believe that there is any other company that is able to build so many vehicles that are tested, certifi ed, and meet or exceed the requirements for this particular category – and do it in less than three months,” he said.
Not surprisingly, Roshel received many more orders following those successes, and fulfilled them on schedule (or before) as well. In doing so, “we’ve been able to prove that we meet our promises when it comes to contracts,” said Shimonov. “We’ve also shown that we support our vehicles on the ground. We have local teams across Ukraine who are supporting the vehicles. We’ve been able to build a network of spare parts suppliers to keep them running and get them fi xed fast whenever they are damaged through a dedicated Roshel support team.”
SANCTIONED BY RUSSIA – A BADGE OF HONOUR
Perhaps the clearest sign of Roshel’s success in supporting Ukraine is a hostile reaction by the Putin regime. “Me and my colleagues have been sanctioned by Russia, which we wear as a badge of honour,” Shimonov said. “I’m sure that Putin is not happy with what we’re doing — not just in supplying armoured vehicles to Ukraine in an expeditious manner, but also hiring refugees from Ukraine and giving them an opportunity to help their homeland. They have found a place where they can create and build the best vehicles in the category, and play a role in providing them to Ukraine, as well as to our other clients like the Canadian Armed Forces and the U.S. government.”
Delivering armoured vehicles to Ukraine is a big accomplishment for Roshel, and a major endorsement of its products. It’s also a continuous testing ground where lessons are learned and applied to every succeeding run of Senators.
“Such an endorsement is extremely important because you can test any component of the vehicle dozens of times in the factory, but the real test is on the ground because that’s the actual environment they are designed to operate in,” said Shimomov. “Having over 1000 vehicles on the ground gives us an amazing opportunity to learn and fi nd their weak spots, and then make them better and better. The vehicles that we produce now and ship today are so different from the fi rst generations that we sent, because this improvement process is an ongoing one, and there will never be a moment when we will say, ‘now we’re done. The vehicle is perfect. There is nothing to upgrade, nothing to optimize, nothing to improve.’ It just simply won’t happen because there is always a learning curve, so we’ll continue learning and improving our vehicles going forward.”
LOOKING AHEAD As for the future?
“We have several new platforms that we’re developing,” Shimonov said. “One of them is a fully electric vehicle that we’re designing from scratch — not based on any chassis but a fully electric vehicle that will be used in different applications. We’re also developing a bigger platform like the Senator 8×8 that will have one of the highest levels of static blast and ballistic mitigation. As well, we are integrating other vendors’ systems into our vehicles, and selling the whole solutions as product packages. That’s something that we will continue working on along with being able to support much bigger multi-year programs for the Canadian Army and other Five Eyes members.”
Speaking of the Canadian Army, Roman Shimonov concluded by citing Canada as Roshel’s most important market going forward, even though “the U.S. market is obviously much bigger,” he said. “There are a number of Canadian procurements we are taking part in and others that we plan to pursue, but in all cases Roshel will offer the best, safest and most sustainable vehicles possible to meet all and exceed the expectations of the Canadian Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies in Canada.”
