A new active protection system was successfully demonstrated two months ago in Germany, by Diehl BGT Defence. The system known as Mutual Active Protection System (MAPS) was demonstrated on two days test series conducted 10-11 November, 2010, at the Federal Armed Forces Technical Centre WTD 91 Meppen, Germany. Representatives from the German military and international representatives from allied and international armed forces also attended the test.
For the tests the Active Protection System mounted on a FUCHS 6×6 armored transport vehicle defeated incoming anti-tank rockets and guided missiles including those equipped with advanced tandem warheads.
MAPS includes active and passive sensors for situational awareness, threat detection and fire control as well agile interceptors which consist of ‘blast effectors’ which destroy incoming threats by shock wave deflection, at safe distance from the defended vehicle. In addition to effective vehicle protection, MAPS accurately localizes enemy firing positions enabling rapid and precise counterstrikes by the armoured vehicle thus actively countering repeated attacks.
The system employs a single or dual high speed launcher, mounting four interceptors each. This agile launcher can be aligned extremely rapidly to minimize system response. The modular system employs sensors (radar, IR) or soft kill countermeasures such as IR jammers to address customer specific requirements. For the recent tests MAPS employed sensors and interceptors already proven in foreign test programs.
The system can be connected to other on-board systems such as weapon stations via the Battle Management System (BMS) or C4I systems. In addition to the system‘s protective function the sensors can also be employed to provide rapid localization of threats and situational awareness for the crew.
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