February 22nd, 2006
Advanced Blast Protection names James W. Darden, MG USA (Ret.) as President and Chief Operating Officer

Weston, FL Advanced Blast Protection - provider of modular armor kits for military and commercial vehicles, bullet resistant glass products and specialized armored vehicles - announced today that James W. Darden, MG USA (ret.), has been named as President and Chief Operating Officer. General Darden, who joined Advanced Blast Protection in August of 2005 as Vice President of Sales and Marketing, transitioned to his new role effective February 15, 2006.

"We are extremely pleased to have a very talented leader like General Darden who brings world-class management expertise, fluency in doing business with the US government and defense contractors, and a proven ability to create and develop new businesses to our dynamic industry," said Dr. Warren Phillips, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Advanced Blast Protection.

General Darden will be based at Advanced Blast Protection' corporate headquarters in Weston, Florida. Prior to joining Advanced Blast Protection, General Darden served on active duty and in the United States Army Reserves for 38 years, retiring as the Political Advisor and Deputy for Plans and Policy at the European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. He graduated from Mississippi State University in 1966 with a degree in Political Science and later received a master's degree from University of Mississippi in Land Planning and Development.



December 10th , 2004
Florida Co. Armor Saves 48 Lives in Iraq in Past Month
Produced by: Business Wire

Advanced Blast Protection, of Weston, Fl. has received notice that for the second time in two weeks, a Advanced Blast Protection made product has again saved multiple lives in Iraq.

Advanced Blast Protection announced earlier this week that two of their Rhino Runner heavily armored buses had been attacked in Baghdad by a BMW sedan loaded with an estimated 1,000 pounds of explosives, detonated between the two Runners causing a massive explosion. None of the 40 passengers on the buses were injured.

Today Advanced Blast Protection received pictures from Iraq of a new Ford Explorer which had just had the Advanced Blast Protection Rhino PAK portable, field installable armor kit installed in the vehicle.

A very large road side bomb was set off as the Explorer passed by, carrying four U. S. Army soldiers. The photographs show extensive damage to the entire vehicle, and is a total loss. Every component of the "Cocoon" style armor kit maintained its integrity, and was not compromised by the extreme blast. The four soldiers received some minor cuts and scrapes, but all four walked away from the destroyed vehicle, without injury.

Fred Williams, head of marketing for Advanced Blast Protection, told of another recent incident in which a Suburban SUV fitted with a Advanced Blast Protection Armor kit was attacked by ambush in northern Iraq. The vehicle took 21 rounds of AK-47 fire. The four occupants made it out of the kill zone to safety, and all exited the SUV without a scratch.

Mr. Williams indicated that the company knows of dozens of other lives saved, but have been unable to obtain confirmed documentation on these incidents.

Advanced Blast Protection also makes field installable portable armor kits of the military's Humvees, light and medium transport trucks, as well as the 900 series of military vehicles. Mr. Williams said that the company has the ability to produce about 50 armor kits per week, and is hoping to receive more contracts from the military, eespecially for the transport vehicles, for which there is an acknowledged big shortage of up armor kits.



December 7th , 2004
Advanced Blast Protection Rhino Runner Bus Saves 18 Lives in Baghdad
Produced by: Business Wire

Route Irish is the heavily traveled, and highly dangerous, road between the secure Green Zone in Baghdad and Baghdad International Airport. There have been so many ambushes and IED explosions on that route in the past few months that the U.S. Embassy announced on December 2, 2004 that State Department personnel will be forbidden from traveling that route, and must use helicopters instead.

Military and civilian contractor personnel will continue to use the heavily armored Rhino Runner buses manufactured by Advanced Blast Protection of Weston, Florida.

On November 27, 2004, a convoy of three Rhino Runner buses were midway to the airport on Route Irish when a suicide bomber driving a BMW sedan, heavily laden with explosives, veered in between the lead Rhino Runner, and the second Runner. From a distance of approximately 2 meters from the second bus, the terrorist detonated the explosives, estimated to be more than 250 pounds in weight. The huge explosion generated a crater more than 6 feet in diameter and 2 feet deep in the asphalt road, and created a dust cloud 1,000 feet long which took several minutes to dissipate.

There were 17 military and civilian contractor passengers, plus a driver, on the second Rhino Runner bus at the time of the explosion. In the face of what veteran Army officers described as a "massive explosion", we are proud to announce that there were no injuries whatsoever, due to the great strength of the Runner's design, and unique method of construction.

An Army Captain with nearly one year's service in Iraq, who has made numerous trips back and forth on this route on Rhino Runners, was on board the second bus that morning, and had this to say in an emotional letter to Advanced Blast Protection personnel:

"I am writing you to thank you for saving my life.

"While traveling to the airport in one of your Runner buses, a civilian vehicle suddenly veered close to my bus, which was very unusual, then cut closely in front of us. Before anyone could react, the driver detonated a huge bomb, and we were engulfed in a large sea of orange flames, and the bus severely rocked.

"I quickly checked the other passengers for injuries, and found them all to be OK, with the exception of some sore ear drums. Area soldiers quickly escorted us from the Runner, and as I left the bus, I saw a large crater, but absolutely no sign of the suicide vehicle - it had been completely obliterated. Soldiers later found the nearly 400 pound engine 100 yards from the explosion site.

"I want to relay my deepest thanks for your employees and their amazing work on the Rhino Runner buses. I am very thankful to be alive, as are the other 17 people on board. I have no doubt that had I been in any other vehicle, the result would have been catastrophically different. My wife and two young daughters are equally grateful.

"Please post this note where all of your employees can see it, and receive my most humble thanks."

Advanced Blast Protection company president Carlos Davidov sent this brave officer an email in which he expressed Advanced Blast Protection's employees great pride in having designed and built a versatile vehicle which continues to save American lives. But Davidov corrected the good Captain, saying that all Americans must thank him and all of the other men and women of our armed forces for their dedicated and heroic service to our country, and for their personal and physical sacrifices made on a daily basis in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Fred Williams, head of marketing at Advanced Blast Protection, received several phone calls a couple of days after the bombing from a civilian contract engineer who had been riding in the back of the lead bus.

"I want to thank you and your employees for building such a strong and safe bus. It saved my life, for sure. I have only been in Iraq for two weeks, and the tremendous explosion of the bomb made me think my visit was terminated. If I had been in any other vehicle, I would have been `jelly'. Thanks again for saving my life." This engineer was riding in a second generation Runner which carries 23 passengers plus driver - no one was injured.

Mr. Davidov is pleased to announce that Advanced Blast Protection has just received another order for eleven more Rhino Runner buses which will be in service in Iraq in a matter of weeks.



August 21st, 2004
Advanced Blast Protection Completes Iraqi Security Contracts
Produced by: Business Wire

Florida-based small business Advanced Blast Protection has announced the completion of nearly $20 million in contracts to produce armour solutions for vehicles being used to aid in the development of Iraq. The three-year old company designs and manufactures armouring kits for a wide variety of vehicles, along with producing its own line of armoured buses and tactical vehicles.

Fred Williams, vice president of Advanced Blast Protection, said: "In the past three months we have shipped nearly three hundred armour kits and six armoured buses. The clients were the CPA, US Army, US Navy and several civilian contractors supporting the reconstruction of Iraq." During the previous six months, Advanced Blast Protection shipped over 700 armour kits, the majority being civilian.

Advanced Blast Protection's HMMWV kit costs $17,500 for small orders, and $15,500 each on high-quantity orders, which is less than the average price for kits bought on most sole-source contracts. Some armouring companies make chassis-up armoured HMMWVs and charge about $150,000 for the vehicle and armour body. "I can armour nearly 10 existing HMMWVs with our kits for that amount," Williams said, "and the protection provided is within about 98 per cent of theirs."

In a few weeks Advanced Blast Protection will move into its new 250,000 square foot office - complete with R&D and manufacturing facility - just 100 yards from the current plant in Weston, Florida. Advanced Blast Protection plans to introduce several non-armour military products early next year, as well as finalising plans for two new overseas plants.

Please contact us for any information regarding Advanced Blast Protection.