Something about armor kits for Bradleys..
$37.8M Adds More Israeli Reactive Armor for M2/M3 Bradleys
Posted 08-Jul-2005 09:32
Related stories: Americas - USA, Contracts - Awards, Contracts -
Modifications, Design Innovations, General Dynamics, Middle East -
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Also on this day: 08-Jul-2005 »
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General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products Inc. in
Burlington, VT received a $37.8 million modification to a
firm-fixed-price contract for Reactive Applique Armor Tiles for the
M2/M3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle System. The Bradleys and AAV7 APCs,
which played a central role in the armed operations in Iraq, have
been fitted with armor by Rafael of Haifa, Israel in partial
cooperation with the American General Dynamics company.
The armor is some of the most advanced in the world, and includes
both passive protection of strong material that diverts the rocket,
and reactive protection comprised of plates that contain
explosives. The add-on armor consists of 105 tiles that attach to
the sides, the turret and the front of each Bradley. The tiles,
which look like small boxes, contain a very special, insensitive
explosive that is detonated only when hit by a missile or rocket
and does not react to other heat sources such as small arms or
other fragments. The resulting explosion disrupts the incoming,
armor-penetrating gas jet produced by a RPG's shaped-charge
warhead, for example, so the Bradley remains unharmed.
The US Army is very pleased with the results, according a release
from the US Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems
(PEO-GCS), and Rafael's performance and delivery won it a letter of
recognition from the U.S. Army. The rush deliveries were part of
the US military's effort to slow the damage done by roadside mines,
explosive charges and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) in
Iraq.
Rafael first began applying reactive armor technology immediately
after the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when the Israeli military realized
its older-model tanks were vulnerable to missiles and rockets.
Israel became the world's first army to use reactive armor, but
kept it secret until Syrian forces captured an Israeli tank in
Lebanon.
Since then, Rafael has continuously improved its technology and
applied it to numerous programs in Israel and abroad. Rafael has
been working with General Dynamics since 1994 to provide reactive
armor sets for the U.S. Army Bradleys.
The team received an earlier $19.4 million order from the U.S.
Army's TACOM / ARDEC Picatinny Arsenal, covering procurement of 56
reactive armor vehicle sets and 170 partial sets for the Bradley
Fighting Vehicle. That contract also included funding for the
qualification and first-article testing of a product upgrade to
further improve crew and vehicle survivability over the current
design.
Work on this contract modification will be performed in Haifa,
Israel (38%), Burlington, VT (36%), Lyndonville, VT (13%), Graham,
KY (6%), and Albany, OR (7%) and is expected to be complete by Oct.
31, 2006. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current
fiscal year. This was a sole source contract initiated on April 21,
2005. The U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ issued the contract (W15QKN-05-C-1166).
