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Passive protection is the basis for every comprehensive vehicle protection concept due to the mul-
titude of the threat scenarios. It is characterised by a wide range of achievable protection levels,
multi-hit capability and a low price-performance ratio. The possibility to combine various technolo-
gies allows adapting and upgrading the protection concepts to almost every platform.
Author:
Dipl. Phys. Michael Rust,
IBD Deisenroth Engineering
Target 25 mm RHA Ceramic on liner backing, seven hits but just
light bulges on the backside (right); note the
distances between shot pairs
33
Protection technologies
34
Protection technologies
Transparent armour/glass Finally liners have positive effects a multi-slug consisting of a stream of
on the acoustic and infrared signature metal chunks that penetrates the ar-
Vehicles deployed in peacekeeping mis- of the platform. Both signatures are mour.
sions need to have a “friendly” appear- lowered so that the detectability of the IBD developed a spezial track skirt ap-
ance. This means that the visual contact vehicle is reduced. plied for example at the Leopard 2 A4
between the soldiers and the population New composite materials are used to Evolution. The module is designed to
shall be supported by large windows. design so-called slat armour systems as erode the slug. Combined with a base
However due to the high weight of protection against RPG-7 shaped charg- armour of e.g. a ceramic protection it is
transparent armour large screens have a es. The original slat armour is built with able to defeat even the most dangerous
negative effect on the total weight bal- steel forming large, heavy cages around shaped charges used in theatre.
ance of the vehicle. They raise the centre the vehicle. In case of a hit these cages
of gravity significantly which deteriorates are difficult to repair. With the new ma- IED/EFP-protection
the dynamic behaviour of the vehicle. terial IBD was able to reduce the weight
Therefore the development of light of the slat armour to about 10 kg/m². Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)
transparent armour allows the instal- By separating the slat in smaller modules using Explosively Formed Projectiles
lation of large front windows even they can be designed as retractable ele- (EFPs) are more and more manufac-
with high protection levels with good ments. If the protection is not needed tured like industrially designed weap-
optical properties. Due to the current (for example during transport) the mod- ons and made available to the insur-
developments in transparent ceramics ules can be retracted such reducing the gents. The housing of a typical EFP-IED
there is still potential for further weight lateral dimensions of the vehicle by about is mostly made from plastic tubes. The
reductions. 50 cm. Also the modules can easily be front is closed by a copper or steel liner
IBD has developed glass with excel- exchanged in case of damage. with a concave shape. When the explo-
lent performance, i.e. high transpar- sive inside is ignited, the liner forms a
ency and low weight, which is now Shaped charge protection multi-slug in case of a copper liner and
integrated into various platforms. a mono-slug, when steel is used.
The most frequently used threats in
Composite materials theatre are the variants of the RPG-7.
The grenades in use cover a penetra-
The most common composite materials tion range from about 360 mm RHA
used in the design of protection con- (RPG-7-V) up to about 800 mm RHA
cepts are liners. IBD has developed a (RPG-7-VR). These threats cannot be
large variety of liners with a large span defeated with the same measures as
of properties. Even liners with a density for ballistic small calibre threats. When
of less than 1 g/cm³ are at its disposi- the shaped charge is ignited the con-
tion for weight critical applications (e.g. cave formed cover of the charge made
to support floatability of platforms). from copper, the so-called liner, creates EFP-IED
Liners are primarily used as spall
protection. In case of a so-called over-
match situation, i.e. penetration, frag-
ments of the hull tend to spall off the
inner side of the hull. These fragments
form a spall cone of about 90° expand-
ing into the crew compartment. This
spall has highly lethal effect and causes
severe damage to the interior. With a
liner mounted to the inside of the hull
this spall cone is drastically reduced to Penetration capability of a RPG-7-VR
about 10°. Correspondingly the surviv-
ability of the crew is increased.
When glued to the inside of the hull
the liner also reinforces the whole vehi-
cle structure. This is because both steel
and liner form a composite material. The
steel being the hard but more brittle ma-
terial while the liner is the more ductile
component. In the same way the liner
can also be combined with ceramics to
form such a composite material. Shaped charge protection
35
Protection technologies
the steel plate when it reaches maxi- • Protection against all relevant
mum tension due to the blast. This threats
problem can be solved by adding a ce- • Light weight to maintain the tactical
ramic layer to the steel plate. The ce- mobility
ramic is able to erode the energy of the • Easy and quick installation even un-
fragments while the blast is withheld by der field conditions
the steel plate. • Modularity for maintenance and re-
Special seats for crew and driver are pair
an important part of the mine and IED • Upgradeable with new technologies
protection. To prevent direct exposure and for new requirements
of the occupants to the shock of a mine/ A protection concept that meets these re-
IED blast the seats must be decoupled quirements has been introduced by IBD
from the floor. Additionally foot-rests Deisenroth Engineering, called the Evolu-
Sketch of EFP-IED protection need to be added because the floor tion Survivability Concept. It is based on
movement of the hull would break the the technologies and products of the 4th
The design of an IED/EFP-protec- legs of the passengers. Alternatively a generation as described above, which are
tion is similar to that of shaped charges. second floor with a sufficient spacing part of the Advanced Modular Armour
A typical setup for a configuration to from the hull floor can be used. The crew Protection (AMAP) family. The products
be mounted on a wheeled vehicle in- members themselves must be fixed with of this family are modular and can be
cludes an outer part that would cover retention belts with quick release. combined to form a balanced spherical
thew heels (or the tracks). This element All equipment stored in the vehicle protection against the full spectrum of
is designed to erode the slug gener- is subjected to the high acceleration threats encountered in theatre.
ated by the EFP-IED. On the hull an and can become a severe threat to the Depending on the specified protec-
add-on armour (e.g. ceramic armour) crew. Therefore suitable fixtures need tion level a selection of the protection
is mounted to defeat the remaining en- to be installed for small arms and other elements is combined using synergistic
ergy of the slug. equipment. effects to meet the requirements at mini-
mum weight. The protection moduls are
Mine/IED protection Holistic approach of arranged inside and outside the platform
the evolution survivability and form nested shells (see figure on top
As long as only blast mines had to be concept of the next page). The hull of the vehicle
considered the mine protection could with its base armour (brown) serves as
be designed in steel only. However this The change from a frontal to a spherical the supporting structure. On the inside
solution is not able to withstand a com- attack scenario requires an all-around the liner (light green) is mounted to rein-
bination of blast and fragments. The survivability concept with the following force the base armour and to reduce the
plate brakes because the fragments hit characteristics: spall cone in overmatch situations. Lin-
ers also have a positive effect in terms of
signature management. They reduce IR
emissions as well as acoustic noise. Since
liners only contribute a minor amount
to the overall weight budget and due to
their combined effects they should al-
ways be considered in the formation of a
protection concept.
The next layer of the vehicle forms
the ballistic protection of the sides and
the roof (blue). This protection mod-
ule is preferably designed with ceramic
because of the low weight and can
be built to provide protection up to
STANAG level 4. However with the
new steel technologies low cost solu-
tions can also be designed. This protec-
tion module can either be integrated in
the vehicle structure during the design
of the vehicle. The light 4x4 Light Mul-
tirole Vehicle (LMV) of IVECO is an ex-
ample. Or as in most cases this module
Mine protection seats and storage is designed as add-on-armour on the
36
Protection technologies
AMAP™-ADS
The Active Defense System
IBD Ingenieurbüro Deisenroth
Phone +49 2205 89408-0
info@ibd-deisenroth.de
www.ibd-deisenroth.de