TenCate Advanced Armor USA and U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM) have signed a multi-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to evaluate the TenCate ABDS active blast countermeasure system for enhanced soldier protection.
The technology evaluation program now enters the second phase, under the direction of the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) and with assistance from other RDECOM Agencies,ensuring that this protection solution is robust and ready to reduce injuries and save military lives.
The ABDS system can save lives and significantly reduce mission compromising injury by minimizing the transfer of mine blast energy witnessed by the mounted crew. The system manages the launch acceleration of the vehicle, its flight and the ensuing fall back to earth.
This RDECOM-wide collaboration enables TenCate engineers to demonstrate the ability of the TenCate ABDS active blast countermeasure system to protect combat and tactical ground vehicle crews from the devastating effects of insurgent mines, roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices (IED’s).
The IED has become a weapon of choice for insurgent forces and is the single largest cause of serious injury during the last ten years in the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters. In 2006 the US Department of Defense established the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) to explore and identify ways to prevent, identify and defeat IEDs. The US Army is heavily focused on this objective and in 2013 the Agency extended an invitation to TenCate Advanced Armor for participation in this effort.
Source: TenCate press release, adapted. Image courtesy of TenCate. TenCate ABDS™ is a trademarked, protected term of TenCate.