“The KAJMAN was designed to carry out combat and special missions”

deployed to Afghanistan armoured plates were affixed above the front bulkhead, soft MAPIK panels were strapped to the roll-cage sides, an armoured belly plate was affixed to deflect landmine blasts, and a third outward facing ‘jump’ seat was affixed at the back of the cargo compartment for a rear gunner.

I reckon this SOV was a stopgap measure, as the SOV II (Armoured 3) model soon appeared built on a Station Wagon bodyshell, very much like the original R-SOV. The roll-cage layout of this 5-door vehicle was very similar to the 3-door version deployed in 2006, but it had proper seats for four troops in addition to the top cover gunner. Removable armoured side doors were also fitted and the driver was given a fold-down half-width windscreen. According to the user, this Land Rover has STANAG 4569 Level 1 ballistic protection.

The SOV II was adequate in size for a fourman Special Forces squad, but it was way too cramped for a six-man section of Czech Paras. So in 2009, a long wheelbase version, the KAJMAN, was ordered specifically for the elite 43rd Airborne Battalion of the 4th Rapid Deployment Brigade. This battalion, which currently has troops deployed in Mali as part of EUTM (the European Union Training Mission) and has served alongside UK Forces in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq and Kosovo, is one of the core elements of NATO’S spearhead VJTF (Very High Readiness Joint Task Force) formation. It was set up at the 2014 Wales Summit in the light of Russian expansionism in the Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.

Officially described by the Czech MOND as the LAND ROVER DEFENDER - MILITARY ARMOURED 4, and nicknamed the KAJMAN on official documentation, this extra long wheelbase gunship was designed “to carry out combat and special missions with the Parachute Battalion”. The Ministry also states the KAJMAN has the ability to be transported by aircraft or helicopter and offers the possibility of undertaking Special Forces or Parachute Assault tasks.

Effectively the converters, AMT Defense, took a Puma-engined Defender 130 Crew Cab and removed the upper cab body, then added a Wmik-style roll-cage and weapons ring platform from the B-pillar to the rear of the vehicle with a single forward strut over the front cab area and down to the engine bulkhead. As with the Czech SOV II, the armoured side doors are easily removable, as are the underbelly mine protection plate and the armoured half windscreen in front of the driver. There is no rear tailgate, but a large