New Ford Police Car Stops Armor-Piercing Bullets

Ford will soon offer what it says is the first police car in the US with protection against bullets that can pierce armor. The doors on its new Police Interceptors are the first to meet federal government standards from "armor-piercing .30-caliber rifle rounds," Business Insider reports. Ford says it will add the two-layer armored panels to its Police Interceptors; one layer of ballistic-grade ceramic to help break the bullet into pieces, and another layer of synthetic-aramid fiber (the same material used for Kevlar) to catch the shrapnel. As the AP puts it, that's "the equivalent of a bulky SWAT team vest" and is meant to stop bullets from an AK-47 or similar weapon.

"Officers globally told us they needed protection from armor-piercing ammunition," a Ford Police Interceptor engineer says in a statement. "In some places outside the US, they face the armor-piercing threat on a daily basis," says another Ford engineer, per the AP. The Interceptor is available as a sedan (based on the full-sized Ford Taurus) and an SUV (based on the Ford Explorer). Previously, the optional ballistic panels available for its doors (which only appear on 5% to 10% of the vehicles Ford sells) protected only against non-armor-piercing bullets. Those doors will also still be available. (More Ford stories.)