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Modern armor protection was well represented at
Eurosatory. These included advanced add-on elements based on passive
- composite armor, advanced reactive armor, soft kill and active
protection systems. Advanced passive armor was displayed by Simula,
included the introduction of the Lightweight Armor-Piercing
Multi-Hit Insert (LAPMI), a follow-on to the combat proven Small
Arms Protective Insert (SAPI) currently produced by the company.
Another insert offering Level IV
protection was introduced by Roulunds from Denmark. This insert is
designed to endure multi-hits of 7.62x51 AP rounds and weighs approx
3kg. Ares has also demonstrated high level individual protection by
for inserts made of LIBA
Armor. This unique application can be
tailored to meet specific threat levels by adapting the depth of the
cylindrical pellets composing the LIBA module. IBD unveiled their
new Advanced Modular Armor Protection (AMAP) composite armor
concept, follow-on to their combat proven
MEXAS. A different
protection concept was demonstrated by Verseidag Indutex. The
company showed Ultrax based plates, capable of stopping multiple
hits of armor-piercing round up to 30mm. The specific weight of such
armor is 70km/m2. The CLARA
non-metallic explosive reactive armor system was also unveiled
by Dynamit Nobel, this product uses Ultrax base
passive armor
layers and cases made of copmposites, to contain the explosive
elements of the
ERA.
Active protection systems:
Among the active protection systems on display at Eurosatory
were several new systems, including the first release of information
about the Active Defense System (ADS) designed by IBD. Diehl
demonstrated its own active protection system - the
AWiSS, proposed
for the future German Army Puma tracked IFV. The soft kill
countermeasure suite MUSS was displayed by both Krauss Maffei and
EADS. The system was recently tested by the German Army as part of
its advanced AFV protection modernization programs considered for
the protection for its current and future AFVs, such as Leopard 2A5,
Boxer, Fennek and Puma. A different protection concept is
CARD,
developed by RUAG – an enhancement of standard smoke grenade
launchers into an active protection system's element.
Concealment & Camouflage
As modern sensor technology is developing into new levels of
sophistication, so does the art of camouflage, which now covers both
visual, thermal, UV and radar wavelengths. Eurosatory 2004 provided
the stage for several companies to show their current products,
including MCS
and Special Forces
Camouflage Suite from Saab Baracuda,
Flexible modular
signature reduction system from Fibrotex and personal camouflage
concept presented by
Texplorer.
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