IBD achieved important improvements with the development of various materials needed for the production of ballistic protection kits. During Eurosatory 2010 IBD already presented new ceramic and steel technologies with improved ballistic properties allowing weight savings of up to 30 %. Now the development leads to further improvements in the performance of these materials.

IBD focused its development activities on nano-ceramics (opaque and transparent) and nanometric steel. With the current achievements the weight of protection kits can be reduced by more than 40%. E.g. IBD developed a protection kit according to STANAG 4569 Level 3 with a weight of 32 Kg/m² only, compared to a typical weight of 60 kg/m² with standard technologies.

This new technology also shows a far better ballistic performance in regard to IEDs. The protection kit according to STANAG 4569 Level 3 is also safe against 20 mm FSP according to STANAG 4569 LEVEL 4.

These results are in line with the need for so called polyvalent protection systems. The broad range of threats requires technologies that are equally usable for different threats so that they cannot be bypassed by easy modifications of the threats.

These weight savings can be used to balance the needs for higher protection because of increased threat levels and the requirements for higher mobility, payload and reduced life cycle costs. With the availability of these materials in production quantities at competitive costs, first vehicles have been equipped with these new technologies and are deployed to theatre now.

An example for the combined application of the nano-ceramics and nanometric steel for the ballistic and IED protection is the MPV 4x4 vehicle from Iveco.

Liner systems, an integral part of IBD‘s protection concepts, have been amended by hybrid-liners with a density significantly less than 1g per cm³ and high temperature liners which maintain their performance even at temperatures of 80°C.

The problem of reduced stability with glued materials under high temperatures and humidity has been eliminated with IBD‘s new gluing systems. The new materials are insensitive against humidity and maintain their mechanical stability up to 120°C.

The following vehicles have already been equipped with the new technologies (examples):

Medium Protected Vehicle (MPV) 4x4, SUPERAV 8x8 and ASTRA truck from Iveco, Armoured Modular Vehicle (AMV) 8x8 from Patria, VAB 4x4 and 6x6 from Renault, Leopard 2 Evolution for Singapore

The improvements make these technologies especially interesting for applications in the aircraft industry. The product AMAP^TM-­AIR was specifically dedicated for the protection of aircrafts and helicopters and is now used on the Tiger helicopter.

The first presentation of the new Main Battle Tank Generation of Singapores armed forces took place at the parade of Singapores National Day 2010. The Leopard Evolution Tanks were presented for the first time within the Mobile Coumn Forces in public.
With the Evolution Concept, IBD is the first provider of an integrated Urban Warfare Concept qualified for tanks in armed forces.

This new product prevents transparent armor windshields from being damaged by stone-chipping or stones intentionally thrown at the vehicles.

The DWP consists of a thin transparent sheet that is mounted on the windshield with a thin fluid film in between.

In case the protected windshield is hit by a stone the DWP prevents chipping or cracks in the transparent armor. The damaged sheet can easily be taken off from the windshield and be replaced by a new one.

DWP mounted on the left side                                        Windshield hit by a stone

Windshield after removal of chipped DWP

Due to its high transmittance it can also be used for the protection of driver periscopes and other optical devices.

With the development of the 4^th generation of armor technologies IBD made a significant step forward towards lighter and cost-efficient protection solutions.

The presentation, given by IBD president Ulf Deisenroth in the plenary session, highlighted amongst others the substantial improvments in protection solutions achieved with the introduction of nano-technologies.

The superior properties of IBD's nano ceramic material with regard to hardness and fracture toughness were demonstrated in comparison to standard high performance ceramics. As a result the areal density of ceramic armor can be reduced by about 30 %. Alternatively with the same weight a higher protection level can be achieved (see illustration above).

IBD managed to develop - in cooperation with steel manufacturers - high strength nanometric Nitrogen steel with almost the performance of standard ceramic materials. The weight savings compared to conventional armor steel go up to 30%. Furthermore the nanometric steels can be used for structural elements in a vehicle facilitating the integration of the protection as well as structural support. Thus IBD can contribute to advanced vehicle constructions when being involved in the early design phase. This type of steel can also be used as very cost-efficient add-on armor for vehicle upgrades which was also exemplified in Mr. Deisenroth's presentation.

Another important progress was made with Aluminum-Titanium-Alloys. Their ballistic properties have come close to those of ceramics. Since these alloys are easy to process they do not only help to save weigth, but also allow creating cost-efficient solutions.

First vehicles equipped with IBD's 4^th generation type light weight armor kits are already in service.

With the short range, Hardkill Active Defense System AMAP-ADS the survivability concept is completed to form a spherical protection around the platform with a protection level that cannot be achieved with passive components alone. After finalizing the development the system is now close to being fielded.

These new technologies are all together a part of, and integrated in the IBD Evolution Survivability Concept that can be applied to all kinds of platforms (land vehicles, aricrafts, and naval vessels). The main advantages of this concept can be summarized as follows:

• The concept enables protection levels that were not achievable with conventional technologies, especially for light vehicles.
• By balancing the survivability measures within the concept, an optimized protection solution - specifically used in urban environment - can be tailored for any platform (light, medium and heavy).
• The weight savings provide significant tactical advantages in increased payload and maneuverability.
• The modularity of the concept allows easy maintenance and repair by the soldiers in the field as well as upgrades with new technologies at any time.
• Easy maintenance even under field conditions and less wear reduce life cycle costs.

New High Level Mine/IED Protection Kit –
Certified and Introduced for Leopard 2

The experience in Iraq and Afghanistan shows that main battle tanks still play an important role in asymmetric warfare and in urban environment. However this requires new concepts to provide reliable protection against the continuously increasing threat levels.

IBD developed a mine protection kit with a protection level higher than those kits that are available so far. The protection level of the IBD kit has been proven and certified by the Government Authority in Germany. This kit is in service now.

In the qualification tests the protection level was proven for EFP-and IED-mines as well as conventional blast mines. In combination with the IED side protection of the Evolution concept the kit even complies with the requirements of the proposal for the new STANAG standard for blast fragmentation IEDs and road-side IEDs.

The mine/IED protection kit is a solution at low costs that is mounted on the outside. This can easily be done in the field by the soldiers within a few hours.

The publication can be downloaded as PDF-file.

St. Barbara Symposium 2008

Technology Day at Schrobenhausen Test Range

More than 50 visitors of governments from 18 countries joined the St. Barbara Symposium on 04 December 2008 at Schrobenhausen Test Range.

The day was filled with life firing tests comprising demonstrations of IBD's AMAP protection technologies against ballistic threats of small and medium calibers, shaped charges and EFP-IEDs. Another test sequence demonstrated the active protection system AMAP-ADS.

At the beginning the visitors were shown the effectiveness of state-of-the-art threats during firing at reference targets. The following tests with firings against targets with IBD technologies and the Active Protection System AMAP-ADS demonstrated the outstanding performance of IBD products.

The broad range of products under test proved the ability of IBD to provide protection concepts against the whole range of today's threats with potential against further improved threats of the future.