Rheinmetall Active Defense System
ADS GmbH defines the next generation of Active Protection
Systems (APS) by the rigorous application of highest safety standards
The world’s first independently assessed
"functionally safe" APS
ADS Gesellschaft für aktive Schutzsysteme mbH (ADS GmbH),
the pioneer in reliable and precise hard-kill Active Protection Systems (APS),
today announces it has achieved a world first; the design and development of an
APS to the highest safety standard, IEC61508. In 2018 ADS-Gen3 plans to be
certified to IEC61508 SIL 3 (Safety Integrity Level), to be independently
assessed by auditing firm tms (technisch-mathematische studiengesellschaft mbH)
using the German Armed Forces’ assessment methodology for weaponry safety.
After seven years of risk-assessed design, development
and system testing, ADS-Gen3 delivers world leading consistent APS defensive
performance, validating defensive operation as succeeding in at least 999 of
1,000 system responses, and potentially as high as 9,999 in 10,000 system
actions. IEC61508 SIL 3 is the same safety integrity level used to ensure the
explosives in our airbags in our cars don’t fire inadvertently, yet respond in
critical situations exactly when needed in the event of an accident.
Further, the system is designed to run continuously
safely, thus assuring that dismounted crew or support infantry are not put at
unnecessary risk by the APS automated defensive firing capabilities. The
reliability of functional safety in ADS-Gen3 aims at a level higher than daily
used elevators, critical components in public transport or traffic light
controls.
"Functional safety is not about whether a system is
working well in its field and delivering an expected performance – it’s about
whether it is safe for all of us to use such system – as operator or as any
human being which simply happens to be nearby", clarifies Dr. Ronald
Meixner, lead engineer for the ADS design.
The combination of defensive performance tested by the
NATO STANAG group coupled with the highest degree of regard for the IEC61508
safety of those around an APS defended vehicle, defines a new era for APS
design. The achievement of these different APS safety as well as system
performance levels brings the same level of confidence we give to our car
design to keep us safe, to the APS sector, marking a fundamental shift from new
technology adoption caution to an assurance of the familiar and proven.
"With this announcement ADS GmbH confirms its
technical pioneering leadership in APS design and development," said
Stefan Haase, CEO, "by bringing our automotive engineering heritage and
discipline to the APS sector we expect to reduce market adoption timeframes,
enabling the rapid deployment of APS’s to defend sorely pressed vehicle assets
from the spectre of the insurgent with an RPG or ATGM threats." Source: rheinmetall-defence.com
During the test, an RPG7 rocket propelled grenade was
fired from a distance of 18m at an ADS-equipped Fuchs/Fox 1A8 armored personnel
carrier (APC) being towed at 20 km/h. The RPG7 warhead is a shaped charge with
0.73 kg of the explosive HMX which will penetrate over half a meter of rolled
homogeneous armor.
The RPG7 travels at 110 m/s before its rocket motor
fires. The ADS thus had only a tenth of a second from launch to recognize the
threat, confirm it as a real threat, decide on a response, and activate the
appropriate countermeasure.
As the image shows, the AMAP-ADS successfully destroyed
the RPG7 in close proximity to the APC. As the ADS operation does not generate
fragments or other debris, the observers were unscathed, and an Asian
representative has now ordered the system for his country.
The above sequence of three high-speed video frames shows
the destruction taking place. The first frame shows the RPG7 projectile
approaching the Fuchs/Fox APC. The second frame is taken just after activation
of the ADS, showing the explosive operation and destroying the RPG7 in mid-air
adjacent to the surface of the vehicle. The final frame shows the post-test
largely undamaged APC.
newatlas.com
The AMAP-ADS protects a complete hemisphere with a
reaction time of roughly 500 microseconds, allowing it to react not only to
RPGs, but to virtually any close-in threat (anti-tank guided missiles, kinetic
energy projectiles, explosively formed penetrators, IEDs, etc.). Source: newatlas.com
MBT Revolution by Rheinmetall: Details
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