ABBS have issued a response to the US Rapid Reaction Technology Office’s (RRTO) RFI relating to Thunderstorm for Contested Logistics.
This outlines how the Advanced Blast & Ballistic Systems Limited Vehicle Global Acceleration Mitigation (VGAM™) System for Ground Vehicle protection can be used to improve the survivability of any ground distribution platform.
Technology Description:
Land mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) continue to endanger military personnel and civilians, in active & legacy theatres of operation, worldwide. Vehicles are susceptible to penetration & shock effects from under-body blast, and being thrown vertically or over-turned by blast gases & ejecta, with the vehicle global acceleration exceeding the capacity of blast seats and resulting in crew injuries & fatalities. Vehicle up-armouring can mitigate these effects, but with considerable added weight & profile, and subsequent loss of maneuverability. Advanced Blast & Ballistic Systems Ltd. (ABBS) has developed Vehicle Global Acceleration Mitigation (VGAM) technology, to mitigate the effects of under-body blast (UBB). The rapid application of VGAM counter-impulse (downforce) to the protected vehicle dramatically reduces its jump height in response to a UBB event.
ABBS Linear Rocket Motor (LRM) effectors (1) stabilizing a Snatch Land-Rover light ground vehicle (2,3) with <0.5 metre jump height over a 6kg(TE) buried mine blast (4)
ABBS’s solution uses rocket-motor effectors on the upper vehicle surfaces to deliver a fast, counter-acting impulse within milli-second blast timescales to counteract UBB global acceleration taking the vehicle ‘weight’ up to c.1,000tons for just the 30-100ms required to counteract the mine/IED impulse loads; mitigating:
- global acceleration and
- subsequent rollover and/or slam-down of the vehicle, and keeping occupant loading within the capability (c.9msec-1) of energy-absorbing seat systems.
Solid-propellant rocket motor effectors provide low-mass, high-speed delivery of counter-measure impulse, with low Insensitive Munition (IM) signature when combined with ABBS’s electronic safety, arming & ignition sub-system. The ABBS VGAM system concept is demonstrated in full-scale vehicle rig firings in the US & the UK. Integration and validation of this novel system technology can now mitigate UBB global-acceleration threats to multiple classes of ground vehicle, reducing occupant casualties & injuries whilst preserving vehicle mobility and efficiency, strengthening the resilience & survivability of Ground Distribution Platforms.
Operating Concept of ABBS Vehicle Global Acceleration Mitigation (VGAM) system: a protected vehicle (1) subjected to an under-body blast (UBB) threat, resulting in (2) the fast actuation of linear rocket motor (LRM) countermeasures on the vehicle roof to counter UBB-driven global acceleration
For more details about Advanced Blast & Ballistic Systems range of Ground Vehicle Protection products, please contact us.