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EnforceTac Calling: TSS on Keeping Things Moving Under Pressure
We’ve had EnforceTac in the back of our minds for a while now here at TSS. Not in the sense that we’ve circled in red the dates on our wall planner or underlined them in our diary, although we have. More in the way you keep track of things you are looking forward to, places where the right conversations tend to happen. That’s EnforceTac, no fuss, no drama. You turn up, you talk, you listen, you leave with a few things to think about. That’s always been the appeal.
Louis Huijzen, Managing Director, TSS says “Obviously we are always excited to hear about how well and reliably our products perform, but we also like to hear about aspects that we might not have thought about ourselves. Higher payload, new platform, or a different application of an existing technology.”
TSS has been exhibiting there since the early days, when it was still finding its feet and proving it wasn’t just another show bolted onto an already crowded calendar. Over time it’s settled into its stride. A security-focused event that draws the people who actually specify, build, use and maintain equipment. Vehicle manufacturers and integrators, specialist police and military units. Procurement teams who know they’ll be living with the consequences of their decisions, and everyone in between who matters. The difference is, people at EnforceTac stay long enough to ask the important questions and swap stories about what’s worked, what hasn’t, and what failed in ways nobody predicted. That’s familiar territory for us.
TSS International has been around since the 70s. We’re still family-owned, still relatively small but highly capable, purposefully lean and still guided by a fairly simple truth that hasn’t changed in nearly fifty years: if the vehicle can’t move, very little else matters. Mobility isn’t a slogan. It’s the difference between carrying on and becoming somebody else’s problem that must be solved rapidly.
This simple truth runs through everything we do. Runflat systems and shock management. Wheels, brakes, and suspension. Blast mitigation and personal protection. None of it exists in isolation any more, if it ever really did. Modern vehicles are systems, and increasingly heavy ones. Armour levels creep up and payloads follow. Margins shrink and components that were once “fine” start to show their limits, often quietly at first, then all at once. We spend a lot of time in those grey areas, where something technically still works, but not reliably, not safely, or not for very long.
Louis casually mentions “We have tested so many products in our time, with almost 50 years under our belt. Most with independent institutions such as TÜV, TNO, IABG and Beschussamt, sometimes alongside customers. It isn’t exciting, but it means that we have more than a good understanding of the capabilities of our products. At the same time, there are no points for good marketing when it comes to meeting requirements, just results.”
We started with Runflats and they’re still central. Over the years we’ve supplied runflat wheel assemblies designed to keep vehicles moving under load, heat and damage, not just limp away from a proving ground. They meet standards like FINABEL for performance, but more importantly, they’ve been used long enough for any potential weaknesses to be well understood and worked out. Wheels followed the same path. Strong rims don’t attract much attention unless they fail, and when they don’t fail, the feedback tends to be understated. One aftersales manager once complained that he never sold replacement rims because ours didn’t break. He meant it as a problem, but we don’t think it is.
Brakes are where things have shifted most noticeably in recent years. As platforms get heavier, braking performance has shifted into focus. For example, a brake system is a safety feature but can also be considered as an important security element, especially if you realise that it can create extra space between the vehicle and an ambush by having a shorter stopping distance.
Louis says with a smile “One customer after fitting our brake package to a heavily protected Land Cruiser 300 described it in glowing terms, punctuated with a few choice selections of expletives.”
Not refined feedback, but clear enough.
And that brings us neatly to the LC300. This year at EnforceTac, a lot of our discussions will most likely revolve around heavily protected Land Cruiser platforms, as they’ve become a default choice across military, security and specialist police fleets, and for good reason. But they weren’t designed with significant armour in mind. Once protection levels rise, everything must keep up. Our role is to help teams deal with that reality, using tested, proven components rather than hoping the original design assumptions will stretch indefinitely.
We’ve gradually specialised in offering something close to a one-stop shop for armoured mobility. Wheels, runflats, brakes, blast mitigation, shock absorbers and self-sealing fuel tanks. Not as a random collection of parts, but as a system that acknowledges how changes in one area affect everything else. It isn’t glamorous work. It involves long conversations about axle weights, brake temperatures, certification requirements and the sort of failures that only ever show up after enough miles, usually at the least convenient moment. But that’s where experience earns its keep.
Personal protection is a newer part of our portfolio, but it follows the same logic. If managing shock and blast matters under a vehicle, it matters inside a helmet as well. The Skydex IsoFit Helmet Protection System has moved from development into serious user trials and operational consideration. Ballistic protection is a given. What’s changed the conversation is everything around it. Fit. Stability. Heat management. Comfort over long periods, especially when NVGs and Comms are added. Feedback from trials is consistent, with fewer pressure points, reduced heat build-up and better stability. Less fatigue means longer operational endurance, and that’s been reported positively.
Louis explains “EnforceTac gives us the space to have the kind of conversations we value. It’s one of the few shows where you can actually slow down a bit and have an honest conversation about how kit really gets used. We come to listen more than anything else, and what we hear there tends to influence what we do next”
The event fits the way we prefer to work as it’s busy enough to bring the right mix of people together, but still focused enough to allow proper conversations. Things move quickly past theory and into reality, away from the daily churn of calls and emails, and the feedback tends to be grounded and honest. That’s where we get real value, not from quick wins, but from understanding what’s holding up, what’s being pushed to its limits, and where requirements are quietly shifting. We’ll be there. Listening, mostly, and always ready to talk about what works once the weight goes on and conditions get heavy.
