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UK company QinetiQ unveils new British plastic tank.
Our new plastic armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) has sailed through its battle tests and proved to have major advantages over conventional metallic armoured vehicles of a similar size.
Plastic Tank Armoured Vehicle.
The 'plastic tank' is a world first in military engineering. It's a groundbreaking new project, in conjunction with the UK Ministry of Defence and Vickers Defence Systems. The vehicle can withstand attack from a whole range of threats - including high performance cannon fire - while increasing the survivability of the crew against small arms fire, shaped charge anti-tank rounds and shrapnel from artillery shells, compared with conventional vehicles. In addition, the vehicle incorporates stealth technology to reduce its visibility to radar and infrared sensors.
The Advanced Composite Armoured Vehicle Platform (ACAVP) is the first composite moncoque plastic AFV to have been made in the world. Vickers believe it could prove a tremendous asset; it's faster, lighter and therefore easier to transport by air than conventional vehicles, so it can be flown rapidly to war zones.
AFV construction hasn't changed much since the 1960s, when aluminium was introduced as an alternative to steel, so why the need for such a radical departure now? It's all a question of weight and of how the British Army is increasingly becoming involved in policing the world.
A significantly important role for the Army in the 21st century is as a rapid reaction force; as seen in May 2000, when a battalion of Paras was flown overnight from the UK to Sierra Leone to evacuate British nationals. This occurred just two days after 300 UN peacekeepers had been taken hostage and rebels were ransacking the capital. Although armoured vehicles could be useful in such operations, their weight can prohibit rapid air deployment. When Britain spearheaded the peacekeeping forces in Bosnia in 1992, for example, the troops were on 24-hours notice to fly from their bases in Germany, while their vehicles took nearly a month to be shipped to Split. This effectively left soldiers stranded, unable to venture up country without protection from their armoured vehicles.
The answer was to develop a vehicle with at least the same protective capabilities as those currently in use, but light enough to be airlifted easily at short notice. This meant abandoning metals for a lightweight, but extremely tough, moulded E-glass fibre composite: plastic.
The ACAVP on trials at QinetiQ's test track.
For many years, composites have been used to make protective liners in armoured vehicles to prevent spallation - the potentially deadly shower of metal shards that can shear off inside the hull when the vehicle is hit. By removing the metal hull and replacing it with a plastic construction, there is no need for the weight-increasing spall liner and the danger to the crew from a hit is reduced by the design. It has passed all the tests required of a fully operational military vehicle and the technology can now be taken up by industry to be used in production vehicles.
We envisage a whole range of armoured vehicles being developed from the basic composite hull, each with a different role, such as armoured personnel carrier, reconnaissance, command, communications, logistics and ambulance. Its most important role may be during peacekeeping, during which the safety of the vehicle's crew becomes the overriding requirement.
The plastic tank at a glance:
Weight: just 24 tons, four tons lighter than the similar metallic vehicle
Top speed of 40mph over rugged terrain
Decreased fuel consumption, reducing the need for supporting fuel tankers
Increased survivability for the crew, through: reduced visibility to radar and infra-red scanners; reduced risk of shrapnel inside the hull; better protection against bullets, mortars and land-mines
Ideal for use in salt-water conditions, as plastic is less susceptible to corrosion than metal.
http://www.qinetiq.com/home/case_studies/defence/plastic_pank.html
Our new plastic armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) has sailed through its battle tests and proved to have major advantages over conventional metallic armoured vehicles of a similar size.
Plastic Tank Armoured Vehicle.
The 'plastic tank' is a world first in military engineering. It's a groundbreaking new project, in conjunction with the UK Ministry of Defence and Vickers Defence Systems. The vehicle can withstand attack from a whole range of threats - including high performance cannon fire - while increasing the survivability of the crew against small arms fire, shaped charge anti-tank rounds and shrapnel from artillery shells, compared with conventional vehicles. In addition, the vehicle incorporates stealth technology to reduce its visibility to radar and infrared sensors.
The Advanced Composite Armoured Vehicle Platform (ACAVP) is the first composite moncoque plastic AFV to have been made in the world. Vickers believe it could prove a tremendous asset; it's faster, lighter and therefore easier to transport by air than conventional vehicles, so it can be flown rapidly to war zones.
AFV construction hasn't changed much since the 1960s, when aluminium was introduced as an alternative to steel, so why the need for such a radical departure now? It's all a question of weight and of how the British Army is increasingly becoming involved in policing the world.
A significantly important role for the Army in the 21st century is as a rapid reaction force; as seen in May 2000, when a battalion of Paras was flown overnight from the UK to Sierra Leone to evacuate British nationals. This occurred just two days after 300 UN peacekeepers had been taken hostage and rebels were ransacking the capital. Although armoured vehicles could be useful in such operations, their weight can prohibit rapid air deployment. When Britain spearheaded the peacekeeping forces in Bosnia in 1992, for example, the troops were on 24-hours notice to fly from their bases in Germany, while their vehicles took nearly a month to be shipped to Split. This effectively left soldiers stranded, unable to venture up country without protection from their armoured vehicles.
The answer was to develop a vehicle with at least the same protective capabilities as those currently in use, but light enough to be airlifted easily at short notice. This meant abandoning metals for a lightweight, but extremely tough, moulded E-glass fibre composite: plastic.
The ACAVP on trials at QinetiQ's test track.
For many years, composites have been used to make protective liners in armoured vehicles to prevent spallation - the potentially deadly shower of metal shards that can shear off inside the hull when the vehicle is hit. By removing the metal hull and replacing it with a plastic construction, there is no need for the weight-increasing spall liner and the danger to the crew from a hit is reduced by the design. It has passed all the tests required of a fully operational military vehicle and the technology can now be taken up by industry to be used in production vehicles.
We envisage a whole range of armoured vehicles being developed from the basic composite hull, each with a different role, such as armoured personnel carrier, reconnaissance, command, communications, logistics and ambulance. Its most important role may be during peacekeeping, during which the safety of the vehicle's crew becomes the overriding requirement.
The plastic tank at a glance:
Weight: just 24 tons, four tons lighter than the similar metallic vehicle
Top speed of 40mph over rugged terrain
Decreased fuel consumption, reducing the need for supporting fuel tankers
Increased survivability for the crew, through: reduced visibility to radar and infra-red scanners; reduced risk of shrapnel inside the hull; better protection against bullets, mortars and land-mines
Ideal for use in salt-water conditions, as plastic is less susceptible to corrosion than metal.
http://www.qinetiq.com/home/case_studies/defence/plastic_pank.html
