Examining the lost Roshel vehicles
The lost history of Roshels original vehicle lineup
Look at me, talking about Roshel. Is that a surprise now?
Yes, I talk about a lot and no, they have yet to sponsor me yet. It's an understatement to say that Roshel has risen to a sort of mythical level among Canadian defence watchers.
It's hard to understate just how much Roshel has captured the hearts and minds of those of us locked in the cycle of Canadian defence.
A relative unknown two years ago, Roshel has not only managed to successfully become one of the west's premier suppliers to the AFU, but has also managed to find itself on the cusp of a major victory in the CAFs LUV project (Which I've already done a piece on yesterday 👀) against industry juggernauts such as GM, Thales and GDLS.
I'm not going to sit here though and sing their praises all day. Instead, I want to take a deeper look at the company whom has managed to rise so far so quickly.
While best known for the Senator family, Roshel had grand plans at one point for something much bigger.
A brief history of Roshel
Roshel is a Canadian company based out of Mississauga, Ontario that specializes in the design and manufacturing of advanced armored solutions.
The company was founded by Soviet-born Roman Shimonov, whom had recently immigrated from Israel after selling off his previous video encryption business.
Roshel originally got its start manufacturing a cash-in-transit vehicles. Roman Shimonov explained this early start in an interview with the Toronto Star,
“When I came to Canada I noticed the cash-in-transit business used vehicles that were very outdated. Eighty-five per cent of robberies are inside jobs, and those robberies occur because it’s just two people with keys.
With my previous background I developed a system that, using an encrypted signal, allowed the companies to remotely control the features of the vehicle. This eliminates the need of having the second person, because the dispatch controls the location of the vehicle, the access to the valuables — and within a short period of time I got a lot of interest.”
Roshel would soon rise to become one of the largest manufacturers of cash-in-transit vehicles in North America thanks to longstanding partnerships with companies such as Gardaworld, with whom the company completed the first phase of a plan to deploy modified Ford Transit vehicles, a major shift from the larger vehicles employed by the security company.
Introducing the lineup
At AUSA-2018, Roshel revealed its newest offering, a multi-purpose Armoured Personnel Carrier named the Senator.
It was a shift away from the companies previous offerings, and one Mr. Shimonov was quite optimistic on,
“With our new series of vehicles, we are continuously focusing on providing our clients with future-proof solutions by further development of both hardware and software. In modern missions and operations, it’s not enough for the armoured vehicle just to provide reliable ballistic protection – it has to employ active protection systems and advanced security and control features.
By integrating advanced electronic components developed by the top five global technology and defence leaders we believe to stay a step ahead of the competition for years to come. By the end of the year, we target to achieve over 3% market share in this segment”
If you know the current Senator APC, than you'll know the general concept behind the original Senator, although the current GENII Senators benefit from new upgrades thanks to lessons learned during the war in Ukraine.
Built off the Ford F-550 Chassis, the original Senator came with a 6.7L V8 Turbo Diesel Engine, 6-speed automatic transmission and a B7 armor rating all wrapped in a Hardox 600 monocoque body.
From NASA to Korea, its safe to say we all know the Senator (and it's extended family) very well by now! Yet after 2018, Roshel decided to subtly expand its lineup with two new vehicles.
These two vehicles would sit on opposite sides of the Senator, a heavier MRAP-style vehicle and a lighter utility vehicle, all based on civilian chassis, all meant to come together to provide a lineup tailored to a customer's various needs.
But, after 2021 this lineup was quietly shelved, leaving only the Senator to carry on the Armored vehicle line.
Finding info on these two vehicles was incredibly hard, and required the work not just of me, but of a dedicated friend of mine whom wishes to stay anonymous (Though much love to them 😋)
Yet, after months of tracking, we can finally start to put together just what roshel was planning to offer when they first envisioned their Armoured Vehicle line.
Enter the Partisan
The Roshel Partisan was a Light Utility Vehicle based on the Land Cruiser 70 Chassis and was the smallest of the original lineup.
The vehicle was designed for use by security services, border patrol, law enforcement agencies, special forces, and military agencies. It featured run-flat devices, upgraded suspension, and seating for up to ten occupants.
The Partisan’s passenger compartment and engine bay provided protection up to CEN B7 protection level while the Partisan’s floor was equipped with anti-blast protection designed to save occupants in case of a simultaneous explosion of DM-51 hand grenades.
In addition to standard security features, the Partisan could be equipped with advanced systems such as a mechanical or electric turret, video surveillance systems, heavy-duty winch, fire suppression system, crowd control system, RCWS, night vision system, CBRN system, etc.
Land Cruiser 70 based vehicles, while not as common as the 550, are still gaining traction. Babcock, whom I have spoken of, offered their own, more conservative 70-series based vehicle in the GLV.
More recently, the AFU has started accepting deliveries of Dzhura - developed by the Ukrainian company NPO Praktika.
It's almost a shame honestly, as a Land Cruiser 70 based vehicle would have been the perfect lower end vehicle to pair for the LUV project. 😉😏
The Admiral (Yo-ho)
While the Partisan represented the lower end of the lineup, the Admiral was the opposite.
The Roshel Admiral was a Protected Mobility Vehicle based on a Kenworth T370 (I believe) Chassis. It is the largest of Roshels' original lineup by far, designed as a multi-purpose vehicle for security providers, law enforcement agencies, and combat forces, among others.
The Admiral was designed with modularity in mind, coming in several variants includeing Armoured Personnel Carriers, Command and Control vehicles, Medical Evacuation trucks, Border Patrol units, and other modular solutions not mentioned.
The Admiral came standard with a monocoque body providing up to B7/STANAG III level protection, heavy-duty brakes, upgraded suspension, run-flat devices,and blast protected seating for up to SIXTEEN occupants.
The Admiral came equipped with perimeter gunports, advanced locks, escape hatches, external view cameras, emergency lighting, sirens, and crowd-control systems
This was along with the other optional systems including Electronic Warfare systems, RCWS, night vision system, CBRN protection, etc.
Some might notice similarities to another Canadian armored vehicle, the INKAS Huron
Just like the Admiral, The Huron is another armored vehicles based off the Kenworth chassis, featuring the same 6.7L Turbo Diesel Engine and a 10-speed automatic or manual transmission and sixteen passenger capacity.
The Admiral was by far the hardest one to find info on, and the one I remain most curious about.
The end of the line, sorta.
While the Senator persists as the wonderful family of vehicles we know today, the Partisan and Admiral were not long for this world.
The Partisan saw a little bit of success, being licensed out to Turkish company GAMMA, whom has never responded to my emails.
The Admiral, on the other hand, remained merely a concept, with no records existing of one being produced, nor any photographic evidence that it existed past the graphic stage.
After 2021 and Roshels’ entry into Ukraine the Partisan and Admiral unceremoniously dissapear from the records. They are no longer featured on Roshels’ site and now exist in one or two news articles in the far reaches of the internet.
Looking at it now though, I can't help but laugh when staring at the future Roshel presents and it's seeming return to its original dream.
On one hand, we have the mysterious Senator LUV, a seemingly lower end offering to the Roshel Senator and the speculated lower tier entry to the LUV project.
Then there is the Super SENRAP, a new version of the Senator MRAP designed to be larger and more protected, featuring STANAG IV protection across the board.
That is set to debut this September at MSPO in Poland, where Roshel is investigating expanding production on the near future, among several other locations as demand rises.
While the Partisan and Admiral might have went out with a quiet whimper, it's clear Roshel still sees value in the concept they helped pioneer.
I just REALLY wish we could have seen then once.