Granite Tactical Vehicles - Pilot Mountain, North Carolina

Defense News September 01, 2008

U.S. Weighs Retrofit To Improve Blast Protection for Humvees

By Kris Osborn

The U.S. Army and Marine Corps are examining a 5,400-pound armored cabin that can be installed on Humvees to give riders blast protection equivalent to that of a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle, service and industry officials said.

The $80,000 Small combat Tactical Vehicle Capsule (SCTVC) made by Pilot Mountain, N.C.-based Granite Tactical Vehicles, was recently looked at by an Army ... Read More.

The News and Observer

ARMORED TRUCK BUILDER'S MISSION IS PERSONAL
BRUTISH VEHICLES MADE FOR IRAQ'S MEAN STREETS
Jay Price, Staff Writer

PILOT MOUNTAIN - Chris Berman was sitting in a Kuwait airport in 2004, waiting for the burned and dismembered bodies of three fellow Blackwater security contractors to arrive from Iraq so he could escort them home. At that moment, he started thinking about building a vehicle that could have kept his comrades alive. After finishing his 90-day contract ... Read More.

The Winston-Salem Journal August 02, 2007

Tough Stuff: Man's quest for safety honors friend

By Sherry Youngquist

PILOT MOUNTAIN - Chris Berman was on his way to Baghdad in March 2004 with Blackwater USA, a private security company based in North Carolina, when the news broke that another team of contractors had been ambushed in Fallujah, Iraq.

Insurgents killed all four men, including Berman's good friend, Scott Helvenston ... Read More.