TenCate's Add-On Armour Offers Soldiers Greater Protection
22 April 2009
Danish engineers have developed a new add-on armour solution that effectively defeats explosive-formed projectiles generated from roadside bombs that often kill soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Behind the development of the armour is the Danish division of Dutch company TenCate, and CEO Peter Bertelsen has no doubt the new armour will save the lives of many soldiers.
The armour is called Armourtex BM and designed for mounting on the outside of armoured vehicles, where it effectively protects the vehicle interior, which typically holds up to 10 soldiers. Moreover, the material has another indisputable advantage: It weighs much less than the steel plates that are the traditional form of armour protection.
Armourtex BM, which consists of a ceramic layer and a layer of Kevlar-type material, weighs 220kg per m². A vehicle may need up to 20m² of protection, but 4m² to 5m² of surface protection is usually enough.
To afford the same degree of protection as traditional steel armour, the steel would have to be so thick as to weigh about 600kg per m².
Secret Bonding Agent
The secret behind the new lighter and thinner armour solution lies in the way the ceramic and fibre layers are bonded together. Mr Bertelsen said: "The fibre sheets have such an extremely high surface tension that nothing can adhere to them with ordinary-type bonding agents.
"We have therefore developed a bonding agent that effectively bonds together ceramic and fibre." He declined to provide details of the bonding agent, which is so secret that its formula is known to only four or five people.
In order to keep the secret, the formula of the bonding agent will also not be patented.
Mr Bertelsen said: "The longer the formula remains secret, the longer it will take for the enemy to develop new weapons that can penetrate the material."
The Danish armed forces have not yet equipped their armoured vehicles in Afghanistan and Iraq with the new material, but other nations have already bought and fitted an earlier version of the material.
Mr Bertelsen said: "We have supplied three NATO countries that have been using it for some time. Their vehicles have been hit by roadside bombs several times, and the armour has provided effective protection. There have been no fatalities." He declined to give details of which countries’ armed forces had purchased the armour, but he estimated that about 100 vehicles were equipped with it.
"The longer the formula remains secret, the longer it will take for the enemy to develop new weapons that can penetrate it," he said.
Danish Interest, But No Money
Roadside bombs are one of the greatest threats to Danish and allied troops in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Armourtex BM has therefore been welcomed by the Danish Army Combat Training School.
Major Steen Holm Iversen, head of the studies and development sector of the Danish Army Combat Training School’s armour division, which is responsible for the protection of Danish armoured vehicles, said: "This is a very exciting development."
The major said developments in the protection of vehicles against roadside bombs has long been static, and that there was currently no money in the defence budget to provide additional protection for the 100-150 Danish armoured vehicles operating abroad.
On 19 December three Danish soldiers were killed and one was badly wounded by a roadside bomb, and on 23 December a Danish vehicle was hit by another roadside bomb. There were no casualties in this attack.
How Roadside Bombs Work
Roadside bombs of the explosive formed projectile (EFP) type were developed by Iraqi terrorists and are far more precise and powerful than the original improvised explosive device (IED) roadside bombs.
As the name EFP suggests, the blast moulds a metal liner to a 500g projectile that will often pass straight through even an armoured vehicle. Projectile velocity as a result of the blast is 2km a second. EFP bombs are usually connected in series and can be detonated in several ways, including by cell phone.
