Active Force Counteraction Technology Kills Mine Blast Effects on Vehicles

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Roger Sloman - Previous History

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• 1970 ………… B.Sc. Organic & Polymer Chemistry.

• 1971 - 75 …… R&D in Advanced Composite Materials.

• 1975 ………… Founded Advanced Composites Group (ACG).

• 1975 - 80……. Introduced Carbon Fibre into F1 Motor Racing.

• 1980 - 2000 … Developed lower temp. cure (LTM/MTM) prepreg concepts, materials and applications – composite moulds, aerospace structure. • 2004 ….…….. ACG sold to Umeco for £45 million (unfortunately not all for me, but still retired.) Re-sold in 2012 for £274 million to Cytec.

• 2007 ……….. Consultant to Aigis Blast Protection in Derby, UK.

• 2008 ……….. Observations of High Speed Video of Blast Test.

• 2008 - 2015... Development of Active Blast Protection Systems.

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Threats to the Occupants of an Armoured Vehicle Hit by an Under-Belly Mine/IED.

• Penetration of the belly plate and floor.

Usually fatal to most occupants due to over-pressure, blast injuries, and fragmentation. Non-failure assumed for AMPS to be effective.

• Shock Effects

Transmitted through vehicle structure to cause foot/ankle injuries.

• Floor deformation.

Rapidly deforming floor causes multiple fractures to feet, legs, and potentially pelvis and spine. Amputations often required.

• Global Acceleration (Lifting of the whole vehicle.)

Rapid acceleration of the occupants bodies upwards can cause organ and blood vessel ruptures internally which can be fatal due to internal bleeding. Also spinal, neck and brain injuries.

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Vehicle Global Acceleration Mitigation - VGAM – The Initial Patented Concept – Dec. 2008

Directly counteract the lifting forces caused by the mine blast under the vehicle with motors on the roof.

mine

VGAM Motor Forces

Mine Blast Lifting Forces

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May 2010 - Early VGAM Proof-of-Concept Test

Baseline Test 5 meter jump height

VGAM POC Test 2 metre jump

Sloman & Associates Ltd. 6

VAFS – Vehicle Armoured Floor Stabilisation A Logical Extension of the VGAM Concept – June 2010

VAFS Motor Cluster

Structural Column

Armoured Cover Over VAFS Motor Cluster

Load Spreading Structure

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16d

28d 104 28b

100

102

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FIG. 3

3/1c

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Active Mine Protection Systems – AMPS Future Changes in Design Philosophy.

• The AMPS technology is game-changing in terms of protection against under-belly mine blasts. • Doubling protection levels for a similar weight of mine blast protection system should be possible. • New armoured vehicles should be designed around the systems to maximise occupant protection and minimise vehicle damage and repair costs. • Specifications for armoured vehicles should now include VAFS and VGAM performance to provide targets for development of the VAFS and VGAM technology.

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US Requirement – Extracts from Current TARDEC (Tank & Automotive R&D Centre) Solicitation re Survivability

Development During 2015/16.

• Vehicle underbody protection is paramount in mitigating occupant injuries on the battlefield.

• Active Blast Mitigation Systems (ABMS) are the next step in achieving optimal occupant protection from underbody vehicle threats.

• This new technology attempts to neutralize the impulse introduced from a threat by initiating a counter impulse that will minimize or completely negate the impulse experienced by occupants of a vehicle. ABMS can be the next evolution in vehicle occupant protection.

• Specific Requirements: a. The contractor shall have experience and extensive knowledge of ABMS’s. (Note:- ABBS is involved in 4 separate bids including GD and QNA)

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VAFS Technology – Fundamental Design Advantages Of Actively Supporting the Belly Plate

VAFS column-equipped vehicle with 60 degree

included angle increase in V hull.

Lower floor, same or

increased internal

height and volume.

Reduced height profile, lower

C of G.

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VAFS Technology – Fundamental Design Advantages of Pushing Floor Down and Actively Supporting the Belly Plate

• Much flatter V-hull possible, and lower ground clearance.

• Reduced height profile, smaller target.

• Lower centre of mass, greatly increased stability.

• Better cross-country performance.

• Less space between belly plate and internal floor possible, more interior space.

• Reduced stroke requirement for blast mitigating seats, reduced cost, increased interior space.

• Increased internal height available.

• Reduced belly plate thickness required for same blast spec …offsets weight of VAFS/VGAM system.

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VAFS Belly Plate Design For V-Hull Vehicle

Basic Vehicle Body Shell

Vehicle Floor

Optional Column Joint

Space to Allow for Some Movement of Belly Plate

Stiffening Rib with Lightening Holes

Full Length Reinforcing Plates to Spread Load from Column Longitudinally

Column Braced at Both Top and Bottom Elements of Belly Plate

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VAFS/VGAM Combined Motor Design For SUV/Light Vehicle With Low Ground Clearance

Vehicle Floor Full Length Reinforcing

Plates to Spread Load from Column Laterally.

Full length top hat section to form rigid,

strong spine.

Chrushable structure including Al honeycomb

between floor and belly plate.

Tunnel options for drive train/exhaust etc.

VAFS/VGAM combined motor

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VAFS Technology – Shock Isolation Mounting System for Floor, With Spaced Armour Configuration and EFP/Shaped Charge

Protection.

EFP/shaped charge protection if required.

Connect floor to vehicle side structure via shock attenuating mountings.

Honeycomb cells can be filled with lightweight shock attenuating filler.

Column slides through shock-isolating rubber sleeve.

Honeycomb energy absorbing volume.

Duct for services or prop shaft etc.

V A F S M O T O R Free space

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VAFS/VGAM – 6kg Discovery Test Stills About 2m Jump at Front, 1m at Rear

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Land Rover Discovery After 6kg Mine Under-Belly Blast Test. Window glass left intact, no direct blast damage, minimal floor deformation, demonstrating

that the technology works even with a crude VAFS motor generating only 1/3rd of the impulse required and no stiffening top-hat spine on floor to reduce floor deformation.

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VAFS Technology – Integration Design Concept With 3 Small Diameter VAFS Columns and VGAM Motors

Base of VAFS columns on doubler plate on crushable structure top plate.

Crushable structure top plate.

Honeycomb crushable structure.

Sensors

Free space

Ballistic partition provides spall protection, support for seats and floor, and stowage space.

VGAM Motors.

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VAFS Technology – Integration Design Concept With Rear and Side-Opening Doors.

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VAFS Technology – Integration Design Concept With Rear and Side-Opening Doors.

ABBS Ultra-Lightweight (3,500lb) Special Forces Vehicle Concept With VAFS/VGAM System - Nine Man Variant.

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IMI Combat Guard Vehicle - Template for Future Armoured Vehicle Design With VAFS/VGAM Combined System.

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Rocket Motor Performance Characteristics Required For Armoured Vehicle Mine Protection Application

• Effectively a controlled explosion over 20 – 30ms. • For a rocket motor, exceptionally rapid initiation

and rise time to peak thrust, ideally <5ms. • Very high thrust of about 50,000kg for a 1m motor. • Very high total impulse,10kNs per 1m long motor. • Very short duration of about 20ms. • Compact, low profile design.

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Linear Rocket Motor (LRM) With Transverse Exit Slots

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Prototype Linear Rocket Motor.

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Second Firing of Novel, Patented, Low Cost Linear Rocket Motor Design Concept.

Shock cones indicate efficient motor operation.

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January 2015 - Basic Testing of System Response and Linear Rocket Motor Initiation.

LRM initiated by autonomous adjustable-response e2v sensor/control system.

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Other Potential LRM Applications

• Emergency helicopter hard landing system.

• Aircraft Controlled or Un-Controlled Flight Into Terrain prevention system.

• Aircraft missile evasive manoeuvre system.

• ICBM re-entry vehicle/interceptor missile divert motors.

• Ejection seat motors.

• Ejection seat attitude control motors.

• Naval vessel mine protection system.

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Commercial Development and Funding

• NO CURRENT UK MOD REQUIREMENT – NO FOLLOW-ON R&D OR QUALIFICATION FUNDING FROM UK MOD (or Ploughshare)

• TSB to the rescue - £250,000 funding + £675,000 raised by share sale to complete VGAM system development to full POC level …… now at TRL6. (TSB is also supporting the helicopter crash application. The TSB is doing an excellent job!)

• US Market/TARDEC requires the technology so opening ABBS Inc. in USA, maybe with £3 million US funding.

• Negotiating with major Israeli defence equipment supplier for £8 million deal to fund qualification and establish worldwide marketing/support as an Israeli brand.

• THE UK MISSES OUT ON GAME-CHANGING TECHNOLOGY EXPLOITATION AGAIN ……………… BUT IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO TALK!

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Advanced Blast & Ballistic Systems Ltd

Thank you for your attention.

www.advanced-blast.com

roger.sloman@advanced-blast.com

Tel:- (44) 01335 360641 Mobile:- (44) 07989 381057