BAE Systems, under the U.S. Army’s Tank and Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Centre (TARDEC) survivability program, has achieved new milestones in the Integrated Army Active Protection System (IAAPS) program.

IAAPS successfully defeated multiple objective tank-fired threats recently at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, including static vehicle testing and with the target vehicle on the move at speeds near 30 mph. Two foreign, tank-fired High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) threats were killed at speed, in addition to one fragmentation round and three HEAT rounds defeated statically.

“These successes validated what we predicted in our modelling and simulation,” said Mark Middione, BAE Systems’ Survivability Programs Manager at Santa Clara, California. “The achievements demonstrate the advancement of the state-of-the-art in lightweight protection for ground combat vehicles and that active defense systems are ready for Systems Development and Demonstration (SDD) - offering near-term, low-weight alternatives to heavy armour, reactive armour or passive non-explosive reactive armour. The IAAPS team has made each incremental step in capability look relatively easy, but the experience of the team is what makes the continued progress towards full spectrum protection possible.”

Team members from TARDEC, BAE Systems facilities in Santa Clara and Nashua, N.H., and Northrop Grumman Space Technologies, Redondo Beach, California performed the testing at Yuma Proving Ground.

The IAAPS test bed vehicle is a flexible and expandable platform for Army research and development. The test bed has performed numerous experiments with many types of sensors for passive cueing (IR, UV, laser), demonstrated cue by a search radar, defeated threats with jammers, decoys and developed pulse power systems, two types of rocket countermeasures and one non-rocket multigun countermeasure close-in RPG defeat.

The open architecture permits future programs to readily add technologies and new approaches that reduce hit avoidance risk. Existing infrastructure, including an active protection test site at Yuma Proving Ground, is being used for current tank-fired HEAT and KE tests. The IAAPS program is a universal test bed that has undergone continuous incremental technology maturation over the last four years.

BAE Systems
25.10.2005