Kidde Aerospace & Defense

Automatic Fire Extinguishing Systems for Armored Vehicles

Kidde was founded in 1917 and has long been associated with specialty fire safety products for aircraft and vehicles.

Email Address

becky.butler@hs.utc.com

Address

4200 Airport Drive, NW,
Wilson,
NC 27893,
United States of America

Phone

+1 252 237 7004

Fax Number

+1 252 246 7180

Kidde was founded in 1917 and has long been associated with specialty fire safety products for aircraft and vehicles.

Automatic fire extinguishing systems

Kidde Aerospace & Defense (KAD) is the largest designer, manufacturer and through-life supporter of automatic fire extinguishing systems (AFES) for most military vehicles used by Western armed forces. KAD is a part of Hamilton Sundstrand, a United Technologies Corporation (UTC) company.

Crew automatic fire extinguishing system

Kidde is well known for its crew AFES, installed since the 1980s on all major main battle tanks, armored personnel carriers and variants. This system detects and suppresses explosive fires in the crew compartment almost instantaneously.

Explosive fires are caused by the penetration of fuel tanks or hydraulic lines by enemy threats. Less than one pint of fuel burned inside a crew compartment can create lethal overpressures, temperatures and oxygen starvation levels. High reliability, millisecond response optical fire sensors are coupled to fast acting, high-rate discharge extinguishers to prevent explosive fires almost before they get started.

Main battle tanks such as this M1 Abrams have used Kidde automatic fire extinguisher systems as standard since the 1980s.

Kidde also supply conventional fire extinguishers for tackling blazes in vehicles.

The Kidde’s in vehicle sensor identifies and prevents fires inside vehicle compartments.

Recent conflicts have identified the need for additional fire suppression to protect vehicle fuel tanks, engine compartments and tires.

Kidde fire suppression systems are currently used by a wide range of vehicles, including HMMWVs, MRAPs, APCs and MBTs.

Fire protection for military vehicle exteriors

Recent experience in asymmetric warfare conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan has identified the need for additional fire suppression to protect vehicle fuel tanks, engine compartments, tires (and road wheels on tracked vehicles), and other external areas, from roadside bombs, improvised explosive devices and explosively formed penetrators. These threats have been used against both heavily armored vehicles and tactical wheeled vehicles.

Kidde systems to address some or all of these various fire threats are available and being installed on a variety of vehicle types including HMMWVs, MRAPs, APCs and MBTs.

Fire extinguishing systems for smaller vehicles

As the adoption of AFES has spread to tactical wheeled vehicles, so has the demand for lighter weight, more compact systems. Kidde has been a designer and manufacturer of lightweight, compact fire suppression systems for commercial and military airplanes for many years and a wealth of lightweight aviation technologies are already being installed on various vehicles.

Regional offices

KAD supports its military vehicle customers from these locations:

Kidde Aerospace & Defence Australia serving Australia and New Zealand.
Kidde Aerospace & Defense USA – Headquarters.
Kidde Deugra Germany – serving Continental Europe.
Kidde Dual Spectrum USA – serving Canada, Egypt, Italy, S.Korea, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Turkey and USA.
Kidde Graviner / Kidde Research England – serving China, India, Japan, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa and United Kingdom. Kidde Research engages in fire sciences research for the benefit of all KAD companies and their customers.
L’Hotellier, France – serving Algeria, France, Romania, Russia and UAE.

Projects

T-72B3M Main Battle Tank

The T-72B3M main battle tank (MBT) provides enhanced mobility and firepower compared to the baseline T-72B MBT.

T-90S Main Battle Tank (MBT), Russia

The T-90S main battle tank (MBT) is a powerful Russian tank with increased firepower, mobility and protection.

Stryker Armoured Combat Vehicle Family

Stryker 8x8 wheeled combat vehicle family is based on the GDLS Canada LAV III 8×8 light armoured vehicle.

CV90 Armoured Combat Vehicle

The CV90 is a family of highly tactical armoured combat vehicles developed by BAE Systems.

Fuchs 2 Armoured Personnel Carrier

The Fuchs 2 armoured personnel carrier is a new version of the 6×6 Fuchs (Fox) Transportpanzer 1. It is built by German armoured tracked vehicles and turret systems manufacturer Rheinmetall Landsysteme.

Puma AIFV Tracked Armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicle

The Puma Armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicle (AIFV) is a tracked vehicle manufactured by Projekt System & Management (PSM).

Leclerc Main Battle Tank

The Leclerc main battle tank (MBT) built by Giat Industries is operational with the French Army and the armed forces of

PIRANHA V Armoured Wheeled Vehicle

The PIRANHA V 8×8 is the fifth-generation of the family of Piranha wheeled utility vehicles and was developed by General Dynamics, using private venture funding. It was initially designed specifically to meet the UK armed forces’ future rapid effect system (FRES) requirements.

AS90 Braveheart 155mm Self-Propelled Howitzer

AS90 Braveheart is a 155mm self-propelled howitzer which entered service with the British Army in 1992. It was manufactured by BAE Systems Land Systems (RO Defence and formerly the Armaments Division of Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd) at Barrow-in-Furness, in Cumbria. 179 have been built for the British Army.

T-72S Main Battle Tank

The Russian T-72 main battle tank was produced at the Malyshev HMB Plant, based in Kharkov, Ukraine and at UKBM Nizhny T

PIRANHA III / LAV III Armoured Wheeled Vehicles

PIRANHA III is a family of armoured wheeled vehicles developed by Mowag MotoraPIRANHA III is a family of armoured wheeled vehicles developed by Mowag Motorwagenfabriken of Switzerland, now part of General Dynamics European Land Combat Systems (ELCS).wagenfabriken of Switzerland.