SHOOT TO PROTECT

In Iraq, American troops face no dead­lier threat than rocket-​​propelled grenades, or RPGs. Some tanks now come equipped with pro­tec­tive mea­sures against the weapons. But for most sol­diers, the only defense is to shoot the guy hold­ing the RPG before he can let one off. Even so-​​called up-​​armored Humvees will shred if hit by a well-​​placed RPG shot. In late November, 22-​​year-​​old Army National Guard Spc. David L. Roustum was killed when an RPG slammed into his Humvee.
The Army’s Tank-​​Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, or TARDEC, is one of sev­eral Defense Department groups look­ing for a way to give those troops in Hummers another layer of defense. TARDEC’s solu­tion: blast the RPG in midair, before it gets a chance to hit.
In another few years, Hummers’ roofs could be cov­ered with a dozen tubes, each filled with a foot-​​long mini-​​rocket called the FCLAS — short for Full Spectrum Active Protection Close-​​In Shield.
Every FCLAS would have a pair of radio-​​frequency sen­sors inside. One in the nose would detect incom­ing RPGs and fire off a coun­ter­strike. A sec­ond sen­sor, in the rocket’s side, would go off when the RPG comes within range. The FCLAS would then det­o­nate, let­ting loose a hail of explo­sive frag­ments, destroy­ing the grenade in the process. The whole attack and response would take no more than a few sec­onds.
The FCLAS has been tested, most recently at Camp Williams in Utah. Another trial, with mul­ti­ple rock­ets launch­ing at once, is sched­uled for January. But it will be a while before sol­diers in the field get FCLAS pro­tec­tion. The weapon’s safety soft­ware hasn’t been worked out, FCLAS project man­ager Steve Caito told me at the Army Science Conference. “And we have to make sure that if some­one throws a rock, or a bird flies by, that it doesn’t go off.“
More fun and games from the con­fer­ence are here, in my report for Wired News.
THERE’S MORE: Transparent, ceramic, and electro-​​magnetic armor are just a few of the new-​​jack shields reviewed in this month’s National Defense magazine.

December 3rd, 2004 | Armor | Comments Off Both comments and pings are currently closed.