The rapid expansion of Roshel
It's been a busy week for the Canadian company, as two new vehicles join the companies offers
I promised myself when I started this substack that I wouldn't make this Roshel focused. I know people wouldn't be surprised, nor be upset by that fact. I accept my status as the ‘Roshel Guy’ with open arms.
So when the company decides to have what is likely it busiest week in the last year, I take a great interest in documenting this a bit, and highlighting my thoughts.
This will be a but different from my other pieces, and my experiment with shorter, news based content over my typical analysis. Hopefully it is liked! Please let me know.
A busy week
Roshel tends to be a fairly quiet company. They have a bare minimum social media presence, a fairly established lineup, and tend to be quite conservative in releasing info, often saving it for larger shows.
So what MSPO, an event the company highly publicized, passed with some cool looks and an CUAS variant of the SENUP, tailored for Ukraine. I accepted that it was going to be a nice, quiet fall for the company.
Of course, I had heard that Roshel would be showing off a new vehicle this month, but when MSPO came to pass, my guess was that it was simply delayed. It isn't the first time. Roshel has gone back on teases before, especially rumored ones.
I was told it was definitely happening, but if I'm one thing it's stubborn, and I said it was best to step back and wait to see what happened.
Then, out of nowhere, Roshel decided to spend the week dropping not one, not two but THREE seperate vehicles in the span of four days.
Granted, one is a SENRAP variant, but it's different enough that I have decided to include it here as well, given the significant design changes, as well as some important details lurking below.
So, let's break down the vehicles as we discovered them.
I: The KF411 (or whatever name it gets)
On September 20th, Roshel officially announced that they had acquired the full design package of the KF411 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle from Panzer Vehicle Solutions, an armored vehicle manufacturer based out of South Africa.
This is the first time that Roshel has acquired an outside design from another company, and is the first vehicle that Roshel has added outside the Senator family since the demise of the Partisan and Admiral.
The vehicle features a robust monocoque body and offers STANAG 4569 Level 3 ballistic protection and STANAG Level 4 blast protection
Roshel will modernize this proven design with advanced smart systems and new technologies, ensuring it meets the evolving needs of modern defense.
Production has already started on the first batch, and orders are now being accepted for delivery by the end of the year, quite the quick turn around!
The KF411 might strike some familiarity with the older crowd. While a relatively unknown producy, it's heritage stretches back over thirty years, to one of the most legendary vehicles of the 90s.
The KF411 is an evolution of the legendary Mamba family.
The Mamba MRAP is a South African-built, 4x4 armored vehicle designed to withstand landmines and IEDs, specifically tailored for military and peacekeeping operations.
Initially developed in the late 80s the Mamba has found widespread use among numerous countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, Thailand, and the United Kingdom, with South Africa being one of the largest operators.
Over 1000 units have been produced in several variants, serving both military and peacekeeping roles, stretched across several variants and companies.
People might also take note of the RG-31, also known as the Nyala. This Mamba derived vehicle was developed by BAE Systems and produced in South Africa.
It's primarily designed to protect against landmines and IEDs, making it highly effective in post-9/11 conflicts, especially in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Canadian military acquired the RG-31 Nyala during the War on Terror as a direct response to the high risks of roadside bombs, before it was eventually replaced by the TAPV.
The original Mamba Mk 1 featured a 2x4 chassis powered by a Toyota Dyna engine, but later models transitioned to a 4x4 configuration, offering better off-road mobility. The Mk 2, developed by Sandock Austral, became a popular variant with a coil spring suspension system and a ground clearance of 15 inches, providing significant blast protection against mines. This version was equipped with a Mercedes-Benz OM352 engine, giving it a road speed of 63 mph and a range of 560 miles.
The Mamba is currently produced by both BAE and Osprea Logistics, whom has evolved the design further with models like the Mk 5 and Mk 7, based off an Iveco and Deutz chassis respectively.
In fact, Panzers KF411 is in fact NOT a unique vehicle, surprisingly. The design is identical to the Mamba Mk.5 produced by Osprea. There is no difference between them actually.
This makes the whole thing a wee bit confusing. I have tried to reach out to everyone respectively, as, as far as I know, the KF411 is a Mamba Mk.5, with no differences between them.
Is it an unlicensed copy? A licensed copy? What is the relation between Osprea and Panzer? What role does Osprea play in all this? I can't say, as no one has gotten back to me on it.
Either way, this is still a major win for Roshel in terms of an acquisition. The Mamba design has over thirty years of proven design work, with a massive export market tailor made for it.
A legacy vehicle with thirty years of development and goodwill? One of the OGs in MRAP technology? That's a big score in my book.
There's a big market for these vehicles, especially in places where Senators might not be ideal, along with dozens of users who will inevitably need to replace their Mamba, particularly in the very open market of Africa.
Thousands of Mamba vehicles have been built, and most are still in service in military, policing and peacekeeping operations, across Africa and the world, primarily in service to the U.N. and AMISOM.
It'd hard to deny a market like that is quite lucrative, and being able to offer their own, licensed Mamba, and other evolutions on the design that the company ends up with, provides Roshel the ability to tackle a market that so often has few jumping at it.
Amd that's the big thing here. It's a vehicle that Roshel has no answer too. It is by far the heaviest, most armored vehicle Roshel currently offers, above even the SENRAP.
It is an ideal vehicle to offer to the developing market, where again the Senator might be to.costly or not ideal.
To recap:
Thirty Year legacy
Name recognition
Wide user-base
Unique to the companies lineup
It's easy to see why Roshel would jump on the opportunity to acquire and export such a design, even if it isn't the original. Of course, it also pairs well as the heavy to our other new vehicle.
The Captain APC
I debated whether to use this opportunity to stroke my ego a bit, indeed, I know it is likely this was coming sooner rather than later.
On September 23rd, just three days after showing off the companies newest acquisition, we got a special look at another new Roshel vehicle in the works.
Some idiot, whom shall not be named, decided to be cheeky about the company on Twitter, and compare the current lineup to another product.
It was here that Roshel CEO Roman Shimonov showed off out first look at this mysterious vehicle, a smaller alternative to the wider SENRAP, which was handily next to it to compare.
This vehicle, based off the Land Cruiser 70 chassis, would remain an unknown for about a day, when Roshel would officially add it to their website lineup.
This would be the Captain APC, a modern version of the legacy Partisan concept.
The Roshel Captain APC, built on the robust Toyota Land Cruiser 70 series chassis, is designed as a highly versatile, durable, and cost-effective solution for police, border patrol, and law enforcement operations.
This vehicle is specifically engineered for demanding law enforcement and security operations, offering a cost-effective price point without compromising on quality or performance.
The Captain APC is designed with durability and rapid deployment in mind, featuring a V-Shaped hull and a staggering STANAG IIB level blast protection.
I have yet to see a Land Cruiser based light utility vehicle with a base STANAG II blast rating. That is an obscene level for a vehicle of this class, and should show that Roshel is targeting this as a very high level vehicles beyond the usual Land Cruiser vehicles we see, such as the Babcock GLV or Armored Group LT-79
The Captain APC is available with both gasoline and diesel engine options, Additionally, it is offered in both right-hand drive (RHD) and left-hand drive (LHD) configurations, as well as with manual or automatic transmissions.
The Captain APC also provides various seating layout options to suit different operational needs, including configurations for troop transport, command and control, or specialized equipment transport.
This modular design ensures that the vehicle can be adapted to a wide range of missions, from routine patrols and high-risk interventions to border security and disaster response.
I won't say that this shocked me. I have long suspected that Roshel would inevitably launch a vehicle below the Senator in terms of size, and to me the Land Cruiser 70 fit that perfectly.
The Land Cruiser is a great chassis for a lot of reasons, multiple different chassis to choose from, an established supply chain, and best of all? It's widely popular.
That makes this, and it's PMV-like status, an eye catcher to militaries who might want a step above an unarmored land Cruiser who doesn't want to spend a lot of money, nor integrate a new vehicle to their fleet. I assume also that current Land Cruiser could also be upgraded to Captain status, providing another pathway for the platform.
I do hope that the Babcock partnership leads to some ideas taken from the GLV line. There's a lot of cool concepts there to stretch the utility of a chassis like this.
This would also pair really well in the developing market with the KF411, especially if Roshel is looking to jump on peacekeeping where a Land Cruiser/Mamba combo would be a great, established offering.
I expect that the Captain family will have a similar trajectory to the Senator, with an eventual split between the military and security focused variants.
I am also gonna confidently say that we'll see a pickup in the near future. The platform is obviously still young and, in its infancy, but Roshel tends to progress fast on these things.
I wouldn't be surprised to see several variants in the coming months, maybe similar to the next vehicle in our lineup
The Senator EOD
The Senator EOD (SENEOD) vehicle is a purpose-built platform designed to support explosive ordnance disposal teams during high-risk operations. It is the latest version of the SENRAP we have seen.
One of the vehicle’s key features is its heavy-duty ramp, which facilitates the deployment of bomb disposal robots, enabling operators to neutralize explosive threats from a safe distance.
Additionally, the vehicle is equipped with an oversized door and extended roof height, which accommodate larger pieces of specialized equipment crucial for EOD operations, adding to its unique design compared to other Senator variants.
The vehicle’s reinforced armor system provides a high level of defense against shrapnel, blasts, and other explosive threats. The SENEOD is rated for STANAG IIB Ballistic and Level IIIB blast.
This is the first confirmation I've seen of a Senator with IIIB protection. Although it has been rumored for quite a while, given their performance in Ukraine. It is likely we can now classify all SENRAP variants as STANAG IIIB (it isn't that shocking…)
Inside, the vehicle offers a spacious, customizable layout that can be tailored to specific mission needs. The ergonomic design provides a comfortable workspace for bomb technicians, ensuring that they can operate their equipment with ease and efficiency.
With ample storage for critical gear and bomb disposal robots, the vehicle’s interior enhances operational effectiveness.
This feels natural, in a way. We know several more variants are coming, Medical Evacuation, Pyrotechnics, more CUAS. This is likely to be the first of several new SENRAP we will see added to the lineup as the platform continues to mature.
Senators are already used for most of these tasks by the AFU, and have been privately customized to fill those tasks. These kinds of variants provide a standardized, more advanced solution to the makeshift designs and modifications of the AFU, if any at all.
I also suspect we will see the SENEOD used in other tasks beyond its original purpose, owing to its unique design. What that will be? I leave that to you to speculate and ponder…. FPV Carriers? Mobile repair? Take your guess! I can think of a few!
Kickstart the heart
This is a lot for five days. I don't think I've ever seen the company drop so much in such a short time, not that in complaining mind you, but it is interesting.
This was a natural expansion though. While the KF411 surprised me, it is a wonderful addition to the lineup, one that has a lot of potential, and gives us a new vehicle to fill the dedicated MRAP catagory above the Senator.
Similarly, the Captain provides a smaller, cheaper alternative to the base Senator. I believe the addition of a future pickup variant will further pair well with the SENRAP.
That's a big thing. This will work well as a smaller pair to the SENRAP or KF411, and is a class of vehicle that Roshel was desperately lacking from its lineup.
A highly mobile, cheap, STANAG II Land Cruiser that maintains the capability and a similar size to other Land Cruisers offered by company's such as Armored Group or Practika? That sounds like a winning concept for Roshel, and one they should be proud of.
Of course, I wait to see how the platform evolves. It offers, to me, a chassis with a lot more variance and modification potential compared to the F-550 chassis.
Keep in mind as well, Roshel is working on theor own, in-house chassis to use for various vehicles, along with a 8x8 armored vehicle with a STANAG level beyond level V protection.
Once that is out? The sky's the limit for the company. They will have almost a perfect lineup as one could ask of them, certainly more than I could, unless they start buying up more designs, like the Casspir, from Panzer while they're at it!
It's easy to feel proud, to see a Canadian company doing so well. It is rare to see our defence industry producing such results, certainly not at the speed and aggression Roshel has over the last two years.
The future is just beginning for Roshel though, and I have a feeling the next year is only just beginning.