Survivability enhancement means for armored vehicles

© Agent (s): Cabinet Plasseraud.

Shielding system.

© An armor system comprises a first separable attachment structure 20 fixed on the surface of the vehicle whose survival capacity is to be improved, and a set of armor tiles 40. Each armor tile has opposite surfaces with a second separable fastening structure 44 complementary to the first separable fastening structure 20 secured on one of these surfaces, one of the separable fastening structures having a large number of 'hooking elements 22 projecting and the cooperating attachment structure having a complementary structure which can be removably engaged in these elements

I of attachment.

FR 2 632 392

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SHIELDING SY STEM

The present invention relates to an improvement in the survivability, and more particularly to systems for increasing the survivability of armored vehicles and the like.

Armored vehicles and systems are designed to provide ballistic protection commensurate with a specific threat. In this type of vehicle and system, the ability to quickly and easily change the configuration of the armor or to repair quickly Armor damaged due to the particular threats to which the vehicle or system is likely to be exposed, may increase survivability. In addition, arrangements that reduce the signature of the vehicle (in terms of electromagnetic radiation, infrared radiation, or the like) can also help improve survivability. The appearance of a new vehicle armor on the ground encourages the development of new weapons and ammunition more sophisticated still to destroy this new armor. To increase the survivability, the applied armor has been proposed, that is to say an additional armor applied over the base armor designed and manufactured with the vehicle or system. It has been proposed to fix this wall shielding to the basic shielding by adhesive bonding, by mechanical bolting or by magnetic fixing.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a system improving the survivability, system which comprises a first separable fastening structure fixed on the surface of the vehicle or system of which it is desired to improve the survivability , and a set of armor tiles, each armor tile having opposite surfaces having a second separable attachment structure complementary to the first separable attachment structure secured on one of its surfaces, one of the separable attachment structures having a large number of projecting hooking elements (for example of the hook or spearhead type) and the other cooperating attachment structure having a complementary structure capable of engaging removably in the hooking elements. Each armor tile further has perimeter surface portions for matching juxtaposition with perimeter surface portions of the adjacent armor tiles to provide an additional composite layer of armor with the tie structure continuing to ensure the fixing effectively, even when the armor tiles are subjected to significant shear forces (for example during a ballistic impact and the bursting of an adjoining tile) and which has effective force dissipation characteristics. Preferably, the fastening structures in the assembled state have a tensile stress of at least about 34,500 pascals and a shear stress of at least about 69,000 pascals.

Preferably, the survival capacity improvement system further comprises a flexible cover structure, provided with a separable attachment structure of the second type fixed on the interior surface of the cover structure for the mutual engagement of fixing with the separable attachment structure of the first type. The cover structure preferably comprises signature reduction characteristics (in terms of electromagnetic radiation, infrared radiation, or the like, as the case may be) and in a particular embodiment, it is made of silicone rubber with a particulate material coated with signal reduction. Although the armor tile can be made of different materials, including

comprised of metals and reactive (for example explosive) materials, in particular embodiments, the material of the shielding tile is a ceramic material such as boron carbide, silicon carbide, aluminum oxide , titanium boride, or exposed materials. Preferably, each ceramic shielding tile has opposite planar surfaces and it has at least a thickness of approximately 1 cm, its configuration is polygonal with a length of the perimeter edge surfaces of at least approximately 4 cm. The separable fastening structure of the first type is linked to a flat surface of the armor tile and the separable fastening structure of the second type is linked to its opposite flat surface.

Preferably, one of the separable attachment structures comprises a series of hooks which extend upwards from a base portion, each hook comprising a flexible rod portion and a head portion, the head portion comprising an inclined bending portion projecting laterally and a locking surface located between the bending surface portion and the rod portion to come into contact with a portion of the cooperating attachment structure in fixing relationship. Although the fasteners may be made of a variety of materials, including metals, in particular embodiments, the base portion and the hooks are made of thermoplastic polymer such as nylon, polypropylene or related materials, and the base portion of the fastening structure is. adhesively bonded with epoxy or similar material to its fixing surface. In a particular embodiment, the cooperating fastening structure comprises a large number of loops.

The systems for improving the survivability in accordance with the invention facilitate the mounting of auxiliary shielding elements as well as their removal and repositioning making it possible to easily carry out subsequent technical improvements to the shielding. There is no need to make changes to the base armor of the vehicle or system, nor does the survivability enhancement system affect the integrity of the base armor structure. In the field, damaged armor tiles can be easily replaced. The interactions between adjoining armor tiles and between armor tiles and basic armor are such that the destructive impact of a projectile on a tile causes only minimal deterioration and / or little displacement of the adjoining tiles. . The integrity of the structure of the fastening system resists the shocks inherent in the system, vibrations, crushing loads, etc. The additional armor can be stored or transported separately from the vehicle for placement on site when one wishes to use the improved armor and it can also be applied selectively to desired parts of the vehicle, thereby improving the versatility of the latter.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will follow on reading the description of a particular embodiment with reference to the drawings in which:

- Figure 1 is a view of a light armored vehicle which implements a survival capacity improvement system according to the invention, the enlarged views of Figures 1A, 1B and 1C illustrating particular configurations of the improvement systems of the ability to survive in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is an elevational view of a set of shielding tiles according to the invention;

Figure 3 is a schematic sectional view of a portion of shielding tile according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view of parts of components of the system for improving the survival capacity of FIG. 1 in separate relation;

Figure 5 is a similar schematic view of the components of the survivability enhancement system of Figure 4 in attached relationship;

FIG. 6 is a graph showing the tension / elongation characteristics of a system for improving the survival capacity according to the invention and of an adhesive bonding system; and

- Figure 7 is a view similar to the figure of a light armored vehicle showing the replacement of armored tiles in the field.

Figure 1 shows a light vehicle with high mobility 10 which comprises a body 12 mounted on a series of driven wheels 14 and a turret 16 on the body 12. The body 12 is constructed from an armored steel plate. 18 with a thickness of 0.635 cm and has a fastening structure 20 on the outer surface of the steel body. The structure 20 com25 takes a series of vertical hooks 22 which are integral with the base 24 and made of injection molded nylon, the base 24 being fixed to the surface of the shield 18 with epoxy or another suitable adhesive substance. . The hooks 22 with a height of about 30 mm are flexible and facilitate flexible reciprocal engagement and disengagement with the complementary structure of a separable cooperating attachment element.

The covering attachment structure 20 is constituted by a flexible covering plate 30 which ensures a signature reduction (such as for example a reflecting power modified with respect to electromagnetic radiation, infrared radiation or the like). The cover plate 30 comprises a silicone rubber substrate in which a particulate signal reduction material 28 is coated, the plate 30 having a thickness of approximately 6 mm. The fastening structure 32 is fixed to the interior surface of the cover plate 30 by means of a suitable adhesive substance, fastening structure 32 which comprises a set of loops 34 made of polymer material, the loops having heights of about 3 mm.

The hooks 22 of the attachment structure 20 can engage in loops 34 of the cover plate 30 in the upper area 26 shown in Figure 1A. In other locations of the body 12, one or more layers of ceramic shielding tiles 40 may be interposed between the body 12 and the cover plate 30, a single layer of shielding tiles 40 being provided in the lateral zone 36 as shown in FIG. 1B, and a double layer of shielding tiles 40 being provided in the front region 38 as shown in FIG. 1C. Each ceramic tile 40 is made of boron carbide about 2 cm thick and has a hexagonal configuration with the right edge sections of the perimeter having a length of about 8 cm. As shown in FIG. 4, the separable fastening structure 44 similar to the covering fastening structure 32 is fixed on the flat surface 42 of each tile, and the separable fastening structure 48 of the similar hanging type to the body fastening structure 20 is secured on the opposite surface 46. A portion of a set of shielding tiles 40 secured to the shielding plate 18 is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, the attachment structure 48 comprises a base portion 50 and a series of hooks 52, each of which comprises a portion of flexible rod 54, a bent surface 56 and a locking surface 58. It will be understood that other configurations of attachment elements (in the form of arrows or spear points can be used. The attachment elements 22 of the separable attachment structure 20 secured to the body 12 are of similar configuration . Cooperable separable fastening structures 32, 44, include loops of nylon or metal wire 34 fixed to the base plate 60. Separable fastening structures 44, 48, are secured to the shielding tiles. 40 by means of liaison officers 62.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show schematic transverse views of components of the survival capacity improvement system, these components being shown in separate relation in FIG. 4 and in relation attached to FIG. 5.

The fastening force of the attachment assembly of the survival capacity improvement system is a function of the configuration, the density and the material of the hooks 22, (52) as well as the size, number and the material of the loops 34. In a particular embodiment, the attachment structures 22,

34, in attached relationship, have a tensile stress of about 48,300 pascals or a total of 801 new2 tones on a surface of 167 cm for each tile 40;

and a shear stress of approximately 103,500 pascals or a total of 1,735 newtons for the 167 cm area of ​​a tile 40. The arrangement of the fastening system confers characteristics of reception and absorption of the force of compression.

I, the tension-elongation relationship of the hook / tail attachment arrangements subjected to lateral (shear) forces is reproduced on the graph of FIG. 6. As indicated by line 70, when the hooks 22 (52) are engaged in the loops 34, the tension-elongation relationship of the fastening force is maintained at a high level when a tile 40 is subjected to a force increasing shear, the loops 34 yielding but the hooks 22 (52) taking up the contiguous loops 34 and continuing to ensure high attachment efficiency. Thus, the attachment system has energy absorption characteristics unlike an adhesion system, for example that shown by curve 72 in FIG. 6, which provides resistance to shear forces up to a point. 74, but is lacking when the bonding adhesive is broken and when the tile is no longer fixed on the shielding substrate 18.

As shown in Figure 2, a ballistic missile that struck tile 40A transfers energy to the six surrounding tiles 40B, and each of the immediately adjoining tiles 40 B transmits energy correspondingly to the twelve surrounding tiles 40C.

The shielding system thus provides a gradual dissipation of energy and practically retains the integrity of the shielding.

As shown in Figure 7, the tiles. armor 40 can be brought into the field in suitable transport containers 80. In each container 80, the tiles 40 have complementary fastening structures 44, 48 on their opposite surfaces and can be easily and quickly mounted on the vehicle 10 in the field. For example, in the event that the shielding tiles 40 are damaged on the front surface part 38 as indicated by the reference 82, it will be possible to strip the signature reduction covering 30, remove the damaged tiles (for example on the using a crowbar type tool or pliers LeVier) and replace them with new tiles 40 that are put in place simply by applying pressure on the tile 40 towards the body 12 to engage the structures of¹ additional fasteners. After replacing the tiles, the covering 30 is re-secured to the layer of exterior tiles also by a simple pressure action. An auxiliary section of cover structure 30 can be attached to the damaged area 84 if desired. Similarly, other tiles 40 can be replaced or added on the ground as the case may be, for example at 86 on the lateral surface 36.

The survivability enhancement system includes a shielding tile with a fastening structure which provides energy absorption and continues to provide fixation when exposed to significant shear forces resulting from example of the detonation of an explosive missile on an adjoining armor tile. The forces applied to the adjoining tiles 40 can be adjusted according to the attachment system and are attenuated by the transfer of energy to the adjacent tiles and by the high resistance to sliding of the attachment structures without however exceeding the limits of traction or compression. armor tiles 40.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, various variants will appear to those skilled in the art, and therefore the invention is not limited to the embodiment described or to its details, and adjustments may be made thereto within the limit and scope of the invention.