Armored busesSecret Service gets two hi-tech buses

Published 17 August 2011

For President Obama’s latest three-day tour of the Midwest, the Secret Service will be using two new armored buses to provide better security; in the past, the Secret Service would lease buses when they needed them and then customize them with security and communications equipment, but officials say these measures were often inadequate

Heavily armored and stacked with secure communications gear // Source: tumblr.com

For President Obama’s latest three-day tour of the Midwest, the Secret Service will be using two new armored buses to provide better security.

In the past, the Secret Service would lease buses when they needed them and then customize them with security and communications equipment, but officials say these measures were often inadequate. A Secret Service official speaking anonymously to CBS News, said, “We have not been satisfied with the level of protection offered by leased buses.”

The buses cost over $1 million each and were purchased based on the Secret Service’s needs for size, equipment, and protective requirements.

Protectees have been utilizing buses for some 40 years or more,” the official said.

The two new buses join the Secret Service’s lineup of protective vehicles, and will be used to guard all of the agency’s charges.

President Obama left on Monday for a three-day tour of Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois. While on the road, Obama will hold four town hall meetings as well as a forum on rural economic issues.