“Provides as much as two square meters (22 square feet) of overhead protection,” Andvare’s Director Justin Willis told Breaking Defense at the SOF Week expo — a specification aimed squarely at a growing threat on modern battlefields: small, first-person-view attack drones and loitering munitions.
Andvare VI and Polaris Government and Defense to field rooftop armor for MRZR ATVs
Australian company Andvare VI Defence Industries said it has teamed with specialist vehicle maker Polaris Government and Defense to deliver prototypes of a ballistic protection kit for MRZR all‑terrain vehicles to Ukrainian special operations forces (SOF). The prototypes are slated for an operational evaluation in theater after the Ukrainian SOF requirement was routed through NATO partners in Bulgaria.
Design and capabilities: lightweight tiles and a “ceramic drape”
The protection solution is an appliqué kit that fits the roof section of MRZR D2 and D4 vehicles, with plans to roll it out to the MRZR Alpha platform. Willis described the kit as providing up to two square meters (22 square feet) of overhead protection. The system uses lightweight armor inserts and tiles with a “ballistic core” engineered to disperse blast; Willis said the tiles are half as thin as some competing products and that the kit weighs less than alternatives, reducing constraints on vehicle payload.
Included in the package is an armored “ceramic drape” that covers the rear of the vehicle. According to Willis, that drape is also capable of protecting operators from loitering munitions and other one‑way effects traveling at speeds of around 200 kph.
Operational evaluation with Ukrainian special operations forces
Andvare and Polaris will deliver prototypes to Ukrainian SOF for an operational evaluation “in theater.” Willis did not disclose the number of kits destined for Ukraine. The requirement for the rooftop protection came through NATO partners in Bulgaria, reflecting a demand signal from Ukrainian units operating in environments where overhead attack from small drones has become a persistent hazard.
FPV drones and loitering munitions as the driving threat
The source frames the development as a response to the broader battlefield trend in Ukraine: the “effectiveness — and lethality — of small, first‑person‑view drones that can hunt down individual soldiers or vehicles.” Militaries worldwide, the report says, are both learning to employ these systems offensively and racing to field defenses. The Andvare kit is explicitly pitched as an appliqué measure to blunt overhead strikes from those types of systems.
Project Willful: parallel interest from US and UK SOF in new 4×4 capabilities
At the same time, US and UK special operations forces appear to be seeking a new light 4×4 combat vehicle under a program publicly listed as Project Willful. The solicitation, posted on the Vulcan special‑operations solicitation database in January and publicly framed by BW&CO consulting, describes a “long‑term” UK effort to demonstrate novel technologies on a light, high‑mobility 4×4 platform.
Project Willful lists technology areas of interest that overlap with the Andvare approach and wider SOF concerns: alternative powertrains, “silent approach” features, increased exportable power for sub‑systems; increased payload and powered trailers; uncrewed ground vehicles; hard and soft kill counter‑UAS; signature management; modular protection and soft kill defensive aids; and low‑profile, lightweight remote weapon stations. The program had a submission deadline of January 2027. “We can’t really say a lot as nobody seems to know that much about this program, yet. But we are tracking it,” an industry source at SOF Week told Breaking Defense.
How Ukrainian SOF, US/UK SOF, and vehicle manufacturers are likely to respond
- Ukrainian special operations forces — will evaluate prototypes in theater and convey operational feedback, testing whether lightweight rooftop armor can reduce vulnerability to overhead FPV attacks without compromising mobility or payload.
- US and UK SOF — through Project Willful and similar procurement efforts, appear poised to push for modular protection, soft‑kill and hard‑kill counter‑UAS options, and other mission modules that can be integrated onto light 4×4 platforms.
- Vehicle manufacturers and defense suppliers — will track both the in‑theater results and Project Willful’s technology priorities, balancing protection, weight, and power constraints while trying to meet rapid operational requirements.
The move to roof‑mounted appliqué protection is practical and incremental: it accepts the platform constraints of MRZR family ATVs while responding to a tactical problem — overhead attacks from small, fast drones and one‑way munitions. The unanswered but essential operational questions — how many kits will be fielded, how the additions affect endurance and handling, and how well the tiles and ceramic drape perform against real‑world loitering munitions — will be answered in the coming months as prototypes reach Ukrainian SOF and as Project Willful matures toward its 2027 deadline.
Source: Breaking Defense — Amid FPV threat, Aussie company to offer Ukraine armored roofs for ATVs
