• STANAG level 4, 5, 6 protection

• Qualified and Combat proven

• Meets environmental and safety standards

• Modular - Easy to install or remove by crew

• Maintainance free

• Anti-mine protection

Designed to absorb energy of threats and prevent perforation, the Armor Shield P system addon armor enhances protection against projectiles, artillery and IED fragments. The modular, lightweight Armor Shield P system can be quickly installed or removed according to the mission.

Rafael has developed and customized various types of passive armor technologies - ceramic, metallic and composite, as well as shaped, spaced and laminated configurations for combat vehicles according to customer needs. Operational in temperature extremes, the armor modules have been tested to ensure the protection level is not degraded after armor modules are subjected to harsh environments. Combat proven, Armor Shield P’s performance specifications meet NATO standards and the requirements of the Israel Defense Forces and the United States forces. These armor systems are used by numerous military forces including the USMC as well as by NATO peacekeeping forces.

The Armor Shield P systems are combat proven, in use by the Israel Defense Forces, the armies of Italy, New Zealand, Korea, Czech Republic, Poland, the USMC and others.

Rafael’s anti-mine protection modules for the belly and the sponson are mounted onto the bottom of the vehicle. The anti-mine protection has a laminated configuration that mitigates the blast energy and prevents rupture of the vehicle belly or sponson.

The floating floor is made of absorbent materials and spall liners that protect against fragments, spall or blast.

The seats, safety suspended significantly attenuate the acceleration affecting the crew when a mine is activated.

Rafael’s Enhanced Appliqué Armor Kit (EAAK), a variation of Armor Shield P, designed for amphibious vehicles, was selected by the U.S. Marine Corps for the Assault Amphibious vehicle (AAV7), while retaining the vehicle’s floating capability and performance.

In mid-1989, RAFAEL Armament Development Authority announced that it had been selected as the sole winner of an open competition to deliver three complete, preproduction Enhanced Applique Armor Kits (EAAK) to the US Marine Corps for installation on United Defense LP AAV7A1 amphibious assault vehicles.

This passive armour package provides increased protection for the vehicles' hull sides, including the sloping part, the roof and the three crew roof hatches (commander, gunner and driver).

Following trials with these EAAKs, the US Marine Corps awarded the company a contract for the supply of 1,137 EAAKs for installation on AAV7A1 vehicles and final deliveries of these were made in 1993.

Late in 1993, the 50 Otobreda VCC-1 infantry fighting vehicles deployed to Somalia by Italy were fitted with EAAKs that were similar to those fitted to the AAV7A1 vehicles of the US Marine Corps.

These kits provide protection against penetration from small arms fire up to 14.5 mm calibre as well as 155 mm artillery fragments.

The total weight of this kit is 750 kg and crew survivability is further enhanced by the installation of spall liners inside the rear troop compartment.

The EAAK armour plates use Special Spaced Armour (SSA) which consists of a laminated structure of special steels with non-metallic layers between them. These steel plates break and deflect kinetic energy projectiles and reduce the residual penetration so that the projectiles or debris cannot penetrate the hull.

These kits were developed by RAFAEL Armament Development Authority and supplied to Italy by the FMS Corporation (now Marvin Land Systems lnc)ofthe USA under a contract worth US$1.5 million. Details of the complete product range of systems now offered by Marvin Land Systems are given in the Engines, transmission and power packs section.

The contract was awarded in July 1993 and the kits were all delivered and fitted to the vehicles in Somalia early in October of that year, ahead of schedule.

For the M113 series of APC, Marvin Land Systems now offers four armour packages developed by RAFAEL:

• Toga perforated plate technology covered in a separate previous entry

• EAAK covered in this entry

• SCA (Shaped Ceramic Armour) kit

• Armadillo which is a reactive hybrid armour kit which provides the highest level of protection and will defeat the Russian Federation and Associated States (CIS) RPG-7 rocket propelled grenade with its High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) warhead.

Production as required. In service with Italy (VCC-1) and USA (AAV7A1). It is believed that a number of other countries have also purchased EAAK kits for their M113s direct from RAFAEL or through Marvin Land Systems.