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An armoured bus or armored bus is a type of
bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...
which provides increased protection for passengers, usually against
small arms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...
and
improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...
s. The bus can be a stock commercial bus with retro-fitted
vehicle armour Military vehicles are commonly armoured (or armored; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) to withstand the impact of Fragmentation (weaponry), shrapnel, bullets, Shell (projectile), shells, Rocke ...
as well as
bulletproof glass Bulletproof glass, ballistic glass, transparent armor, or bullet-resistant glass is a strong and optically transparent material that is particularly resistant to penetration by projectiles, although, like any other material, it is not completel ...
, or a specially built military armoured vehicle. Lighter armoured buses are also used for prisoner transport.


History

One of the first armored vehicles to be used in combat was the Schneider-Brillié which was built from the chassis of a Schneider P2-4000 bus During World War I, civilian buses were pressed into service, especially by Great Britain and France, fulfilling several roles: to transport troops, supplies, and livestock, and as ambulances and mobile surgeries. Britain used several hundred Daimler and LGOC B-type buses as troop transports, but they were not armoured. It was found that the windows were frequently broken by troops' equipment, and the glass was eventually removed. Wooden planks were fixed over the apertures, offering protection from the weather but not from hostile fire. Armoured buses weigh considerably more than ordinary buses. As a result, they use more fuel, are prone to mechanical breakdowns, have very high maintenance costs and wear out faster.


Use of armoured buses

Israel's Egged bus company says that all its bus lines in the
West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
use bulletproof buses. Armored buses were considered the safest form of civilian transport on routes to and from the
Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...
s, although questions have been raised about how effective such buses are. It was estimated the number of fatalities would be lower in the event of attacks on armored vehicles, but this has not always been the case. Some Israeli school buses are armored due to the threat of
terrorist attack Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war a ...
s.


Manufacturers

Merkavim Ltd., an Israeli bus manufacturer jointly owned by the
Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...
Bus Corporation and Mayer Cars & Trucks Ltd., has been producing armored buses since 1946. Its manufacturing facility in the Caesarea industrial park produces a wide range of buses for the local and international markets.Merkavim company profile
/ref>


See also

*
Armoured personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...
*'' Ground Force One'' * List of buses *
Non-military armoured vehicle Non-military armoured vehicles (or paramilitary armoured vehicles if used by a paramilitary) are armoured vehicles used outside professional armed forces. While primarily invented and used for defense/internal conflicts from an equally well armed ...
s *
Police transport Police transport refers to any form of transportation used by police in their duties. These primarily include methods for patrol and prisoner transport. Ground Motorized Four-wheels A police car is the description for a vehicle used by police, ...


References

{{Buses Buses by type Armoured vehicles Paramilitary vehicles