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 7.62×51 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.
