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The inside of a hostage negotiation vehicle is black and gray with multiple screens, four chairs and a wood table in the center.

A hostage negotiation vehicle (HNV) is a specialized blend of tools, technology and resources integrated into a secure and controlled environment where negotiators can quickly and safely resolve any crisis or hostage situation.

Our team at Frontline Communications includes experts in system design engineering and integration, all dedicated to developing HNVs that meet the unique needs of any department, agency or environment. 

But what is the step-by-step process that brings a hostage negotiation vehicle to life? It begins with our nationwide dealership network. 

Frontline Communications Hostage Negotiation Vehicle Design and Manufacturing Process

Our hostage negotiation vehicle (HNV) design and manufacturing process is built around close collaboration with your local Frontline Communications dealer. 
As trusted partners familiar with your region, your dealer will work directly with you to understand operational needs, budget considerations and long-term goals before bringing those insights to Frontline Communications engineering and manufacturing teams.

From the initial consultation through design, manufacturing, delivery and ongoing support, your local dealer serves as your primary point of contact.

As a division of Pierce Manufacturing, Frontline Communications is able to leverage Pierce Manufacturing’s dealership network. What does this mean to you? You’ll have access to one of the most extensive coast-to-coast networks in the mobile command vehicle industry.

 

Initial Consultation

The interior of a hostage negotiation vehicle.Manufacturing a custom hostage negotiation vehicle begins with researching your department’s needs and challenges. Your dealer will work with you to answer the following questions, helping you make key decisions.

  • What personnel will be in the vehicle? Primary and secondary negotiators, scribes, internal communicator, intelligence, other? 
  • Will the vehicle be dedicated to hostage and crisis situations, or will it respond to other emergency situations?
  • Is your department in a rural, less-populated area easily served by a small vehicle or will you be serving a heavily populated area which would benefit from a more robust vehicle?
  • Are there budgetary constraints to consider?

Initial discussions with your dealer should also cover crisis vehicle specifications, including:

  • Vehicle configuration.
  • Standard negotiation truck features and systems (e.g., power, HVAC, lighting, storage, cameras, displays).
  • Optional vehicle and system upgrades (e.g., customized communication systems, workstations, lavatory, galley, custom storage).

Discover the 4 key features of a hostage negotiation vehicle in this detailed blog post.

The interior of a hostage negotiation vehicle.Crisis Vehicle Spec Creation and Proposal Review

After the initial consultation, your dealer compiles all operational requirements, design preferences, budget considerations and future needs gathered during early conversations. This detailed information is then submitted to Frontline Communications, where our engineering team begins transforming those insights into a comprehensive vehicle specification.

Using consultation notes and dealer-provided documentation, the Frontline Communications engineering team utilizes their experience, expertise and parametric technology programs (AutoCAD, CATIA and SOLIDWORKS) to create detailed illustrations of the proposed mechanical, electrical and electronic systems for each new hostage negotiation vehicle (HNV).

Specification Development and Design Review

Throughout the spec development process, your dealer remains closely involved, reviewing designs, clarifying details and ensuring the proposed solution accurately reflects how the vehicle will be used in real-world scenarios. Once the specifications are finalized, your local dealer presents the proposal and walks you through the recommended design, equipment and technology options, addressing any questions or requested changes.

Proposal Presentation, Pricing and Design Optimization

A black hostage negotiation vehicle with words 'Virginia Beach Special Operations' is parked on the grass with green trees and sky in the background.Proposal presentations also include a discussion of pricing options. Because HNVs are highly customized, pricing can range from approximately $350,000 to more than $2.5 million, based primarily on vehicle size and technology features. Your dealer works alongside Frontline to help refine the design, evaluate alternatives and optimize performance without exceeding budget parameters.

Pre-construction Meeting at Frontline Communications Headquarters

Once a client approves the vehicle design and price, their dealer will place the vehicle order and schedule a pre-construction meeting at Frontline Communications Headquarters in Clearwater, FL.

During this meeting, clients can tour the facility and see where and how their hostage negotiation vehicle will be manufactured. It also provides an opportunity to learn about new technology being added to vehicles currently under construction.

Our engineering team will review every element of your HNV design, answer questions and make any final adjustments or additions. Your dealer remains involved throughout this entire process, helping guide discussions and clarify details.

Construction of your HNV will begin once the final designs are approved.

New Hostage Negotiation Vehicle Visual Inspection

When manufacturing is complete, clients return for an on-site vehicle inspection. This inspection provides an opportunity to review every element of the vehicle.

From sitting in the seats and walking on the roof to opening storage compartments and exploring engine construction, this thorough evaluation confirms the HNV meets every design specification.

During this time, customers can test drive the vehicle, operate equipment, test features and more. They will also receive extensive training in vehicle and system operation and maintenance from our expert staff.

Check out this recent C-24 Crisis Negotiation Vehicle delivery to the FBI field office in Chicago, IL.

What’s Next? Maintaining a Lifelong Partnership with Expert Service and Support

Once you receive your new HNV, we remain your partner, providing the ongoing service and support needed to keep your vehicle operating at peak performance. Access to your dealer allows for fast local support backed by factory-level expertise.

Because dealers are based in the regions they serve, they can respond quickly to service needs, coordinate on-site support and help minimize downtime. When advanced troubleshooting, system diagnostics or specialized repairs are required, dealers work directly with our in-house experts to ensure issues are resolved efficiently and accurately.

Our ongoing after-delivery support is also fueled by a full-time staff of technical representatives with extensive backgrounds in crisis vehicle design, construction and maintenance. Together with our dealership partners, this team provides 24/7 support for repairs, diagnostics, replacement parts and warranty-related questions, ensuring help is always within reach.

Frontline Communications maintains an exclusive Nationwide Service Network with over 93 service locations across the U.S. and Canada to provide routine maintenance, on-site repairs and technical system upgrades.

Hostage Negotiation Vehicle Tech Refreshes

While state-of-the-art when built, hostage negotiation vehicle technology is constantly evolving. Frontline Communications technology refreshes is the process of updating system technology to ensure your vehicle is always equipped to provide the highest level of communication and crisis management support.

Your dealer can help you identify when a tech refresh makes sense by evaluating current systems, future needs and budget considerations. Elements of a technology refresh could include updates to:  

  • SDI/HDMI cabling
  • Audio and video systems
  • Network cabling
  • Radio systems and frequencies
  • Camera systems
  • Cellular router systems 

Every Frontline Communications HNV is designed for seamless technology upgrades. If your crisis vehicle is running well mechanically but needs a technology enhancement, there’s no need to purchase a whole new vehicle. A technology refresh is a great way to restore your investment.  

Read this blog post to learn everything you need to know about our technology refresh process.

Why Choose Frontline Communications?

Since 1985, Frontline Communications has built over 3,500 custom communication vehicles for emergency situation response, including hostage negotiation, mobile command vehicles and special-purpose units, such as bomb/EOD vehicles, SWAT trucks and mobile crime labs.

Combined with our trusted dealership network, Frontline delivers a true partnership model, bringing together local expertise, in-house engineering and nationwide service support. From concept development to vehicle delivery and beyond, our process is designed to support departments at every stage.

Looking for your local dealer? Check out the dealer map.


About Frontline Communications
Frontline Communications, a division of Pierce Manufacturing, Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) business, is the leading manufacturer of custom command and communications vehicles. The company’s wide range of products, including SUV’s, Vans and Heavy-Duty Custom Aluminum Bodies are valued for their quality, advanced technology and integration capability that perform in the most extreme environments. Frontline Communications is an ISO 9001:2015 Registered company. Visit www.frontlinecomm.com for more information.

About Oshkosh Corporation

At Oshkosh (NYSE: OSK), we make innovative, purpose-built vehicles and equipment to help everyday heroes advance communities around the world. Headquartered in Wisconsin, Oshkosh Corporation employs over 18,000 team members worldwide, all united behind a common purpose: to make a difference in people’s lives. Oshkosh products can be found in more than 150 countries under the brands of JLG®, Pierce®, MAXIMETAL, Oshkosh® S-Series™, McNeilus®, IMT®, Jerr-Dan®, Frontline™ Communications, Oshkosh® Airport Products, Oshkosh AeroTech™, Oshkosh® Defense and Pratt Miller. For more information, visit oshkoshcorp.com.

®, ™ All brand names referred to in this news release are trademarks of Oshkosh Corporation or its subsidiary companies.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains statements that the Company believes to be “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company’s future financial position, business strategy, targets, projected sales, costs, earnings, capital expenditures, debt levels and cash flows, and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this news release, words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “should,” “project” or “plan” or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company’s control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include the extent of supply chain and logistics disruptions, particularly as demand rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic; the Company’s ability to increase prices or impose surcharges to raise margins or to offset higher input costs, including increased raw material, labor and freight costs; the cyclical nature of the Company’s access equipment, commercial and fire & emergency markets, which are particularly impacted by the strength of U.S. and European economies and construction seasons; the Company’s estimates of access equipment demand which, among other factors, is influenced by historical customer buying patterns and rental company fleet replacement strategies; the Company’s ability to attract production labor in a timely manner; the strength of the U.S. dollar and its impact on Company exports, translation of foreign sales and the cost of purchased materials; the Company’s ability to predict the level and timing of orders for indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts with the U.S. federal government; risks related to reductions in government expenditures in light of U.S. defense budget pressures and an uncertain U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) tactical wheeled vehicle strategy; the impact of any DoD solicitation for competition for future contracts to produce military vehicles; the impacts of budget constraints facing the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and continuously changing demands for postal services; the impact of severe weather, natural disasters or pandemics that may affect the Company, its suppliers or its customers; risks related to the collectability of receivables, particularly for those businesses with exposure to construction markets; the cost of any warranty campaigns related to the Company’s products; risks associated with international operations and sales, including compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; risks that a trade war and related tariffs could reduce the competitiveness of the Company’s products; the Company’s ability to comply with complex laws and regulations applicable to U.S. government contractors; cybersecurity risks and costs of defending against, mitigating and responding to data security threats and breaches impacting the Company; the Company’s ability to successfully identify, complete and integrate acquisitions and to realize the anticipated benefits associated with the same; and risks related to the Company’s ability to successfully execute on its strategic road map and meet its long-term financial goals. Additional information concerning these and other factors is contained in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Form 8-K. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release. The Company assumes no obligation, and disclaims any obligation, to update information contained in this news release. Investors should be aware that the Company may not update such information until the Company’s next quarterly earnings conference call, if at all.

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Oshkosh Corporation Pierce Manufacturing – Perform. Like No Other.

© 2026 Copyright Frontline Communications, A Division of Pierce Manufacturing Inc. an Oshkosh Corporation Business. Oshkosh, the Oshkosh logo, Command Zone, Pierce and the Pierce logo are trademarks and "Perform. Like No Other." is a service mark of Oshkosh Corporation or Pierce Manufacturing Inc.