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Armourer, Converter, Manufacturer, Defence contractor · Přelouč, Pardubice Region, Czech Republic · 1992–present

SVOS spol. s r.o.

Czech armouring specialist founded at Přelouč in 1992, working in a town with an armoured-vehicle tradition going back to 1918. It has delivered more than 3,200 armoured and protected vehicles to over 60 countries, and converted the Czech Army's Defender 130 Kajman light strike vehicles for the 601st Special Forces Group and the airborne battalions.

History

SVOS, spol. s r.o. was founded in 1992 at Přelouč in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic, and describes itself as the successor to a century of military-equipment manufacture in that town, where armoured-car production dates back to 1918. It has grown into one of Europe's larger armouring houses: by its own account more than 3,200 armoured and protected vehicles of various models have gone to governmental and non-governmental operators in over sixty countries, including a dozen NATO members. The works is at Chrudimská 1663, and the firm also makes ballistic glass for vehicles and for the building trade.

SVOS is an armourer and converter rather than a chassis maker. Its catalogue covers armoured personnel carriers, multi-purpose armoured vehicles, armoured ambulances, light armoured patrol vehicles, riot-control vehicles, armoured trucks and armoured truck cabs, heavy-duty cross-country vehicles, cash-in-transit carriers and — at the civilian end — ballistic-protected limousines and SUVs for VIP protection. Its own military platforms include the MARS 4x4 special vehicle and armoured conversions of commercial 4x4s, notably Toyota Land Cruisers as well as Land Rovers.

The Land Rover work in this registry is the Kajman ('caiman'), formally designated LAND ROVER DEFENDER — MILITARY ARMOURED 4. Conversion was carried out at Přelouč on the stretched Defender 130 chassis with the 2.4-litre Ford Duratorq 'Puma' turbodiesel; some accounts also credit AMT and the VOP military repair works in the programme. The body is a hybrid of Station Wagon lower panels and a High Capacity Pick-Up rear tray, under a removable roll cage carrying a weapon ring, with anti-fragmentation armour and underside blast protection to STANAG 4569 Level 1, a winch, reinforced wheels, twin nose jerry-can racks and a swing-away rear pannier. It carries a driver and a fully equipped six-man squad with two support weapons.

Some 97 vehicles were built in 2009-2011 — a prototype and 79 series Kajmans for the 601st Special Forces Group and the 43rd Airborne Battalion at Chrudim, first delivered in December 2009, plus a batch of the modified Kajman M1 for the 102nd Reconnaissance Battalion. The type deployed to Afghanistan with ISAF, to Mali with the EU training mission from March 2013, and on NATO exercises and the Slovakia battlegroup in 2022, and Czech planning called for its service life to end around 2025. SVOS remains active at Přelouč.

Imagery

A Czech Army Defender 130 Kajman with ring-mounted heavy machine gun and front jerry-can carriers on parade in Plzeň, 2015 — the SVOS conversion built at Přelouč.
A Czech Army Defender 130 Kajman with ring-mounted heavy machine gun and front jerry-can carriers on parade in Plzeň, 2015 — the SVOS conversion built at Přelouč. CS92, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗
Land Rover 130 Military A4 Kajman of the Czech Army displayed in Prague for the general staff's 95th anniversary, October 2014, showing the Station Wagon and pick-up hybrid body under its roll cage.
Land Rover 130 Military A4 Kajman of the Czech Army displayed in Prague for the general staff's 95th anniversary, October 2014, showing the Station Wagon and pick-up hybrid body under its roll cage. Gampe, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 ↗

Vehicles in this registry (1)

Sources & citations

Maker record updated 2026-09-10T04:48:16.012Z · status: researched