Unconventional armour.

Advanced ERA concepts are expected to cope with new-generation threats. The US Army Laboratory (ARL) is studying several promising concepts.

Not all current armour concepts will make it to market, but the following is a sampling of what is on the drawing boards.

Slera: Self-Limiting Explosively Reactive Armor provides comparable performance to traditional ERA, but has reduced effects on vehicle structures. Although still based on explosive materials, these types are less energetic that those used in existing ERA, and could be classified as passive materials by Nato. For this reason, Slera may be a more viable long-term solution, but for the moment it remains an elusive unproven technology.

Nera: Non-Energetic Reactive Armor is a proven technology that is passive (and thus easy on vehicle structures), so will be easy to integrate with vehicles. Effective against chemical energy munitions such as shaped charge warheads, the versions tested to date are not effective against kinetic energy threats. However, ARL believes that future designs will have the potential of defeating medium-calibre kinetic rounds.

Smart Armor: a novel reactive armour technology that integrates sensors and microprocessors within the armour envelope. The sensors determine the location and velocity of the projectile or plasma-jet impact, and microprocessors then determine the optimum time to initiate the reactive armour. The latter will use insensitive energetic materials and initiators for increased safety.

Momentum Transfer Armor: an advanced reactive armour technology that defeats kinetic energy threats by explosively launching small bars in a direction perpendicular to the penetration path of a threat projectile. These are intended to defeat the attacking weapons through fracture, deflection and rotation. Still unproven in combat, the Momentum Transfer Armor poses practical challenges, such as minimising the weight of the explosive for an optimum defeat mechanism and achieving consistent robustness against a wide range of threats.

Electromagnetic armour: electromagnetic armour is designed to counter the plasma jet created by shaped charge warheads. It consists of two plates between which there is a potential of several thousand volts. When the plasma jet from the exploding warhead breaks through the first plate, it is exposed to the high voltage, and effectively dispersed to the point where its remaining effects can be absorbed by the vehicle's armoured hull. In January 2001, the US Army Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command awarded Science Application International (SAIC) a $ two million payment under a contract worth a total of $ 8.03 million for the design, fabrication and test of an electromagnetic armour test bed. Work was due to be completed by 30 January 2004. Given the power of modern anti-tank weapons, there seems little chance that the proposed FCS vehicle could survive a direct hit. The Block I vehicle is likely to be armoured only against small arms and heavy machinegun fire, and against fragments from bursting artillery shells, though ERA will probably be used to cope with weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades. For the Block I vehicles, some form of ceramic armour will probably be used, but electromagnetic armour could be used in the Block 2 vehicles as this technology can be matured in time. One organisation outside of the USA that is known to have made significant progress in electromagnetic armour is the British Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL), which has already successfully demonstrated an experimental system mounted on an armoured personnel carrier.

Rafael has also recently developed a new generation of reactive add-on armour. This system is considered by the company to be effective against modern shaped charge warheads. The reactive elements contain a novel insensitive, low rate explosive that does not detonate or burn when hit by any projectile or fragment. The system (the name of which has been withheld) has been adapted and applied, the company reports, to several combat vehicles.

In October 2003, the US Army released an announcement that Rafael and General Dynamics ATP launched an upgraded version of a reactive add-on system for the M2 Bradley.

A lighter hybrid version of Rafael's system has been adapted to the M113 APC, the LAV III and the Stryker. This modular system combines reactive and passive elements to defeat both advanced shaped-charge threats, including RPG-7 at 360[degrees], and 14.5 mm armored piercing bullets and high speed 155 mm artillery KE projectile fragments.

European GDLS Centre

The General Dynamics European Land Combat Systems office was set up in Vienna by General Dynamics in October 2003 to centralise the marketing activities of the American company's subsidiaries in Europe. These include Mowag in Switzerland, General Dynamics Santa Barbara Sistemas in Spain and Steyr in Austria.