Army pursuing alternatives to heavy vehicle armor.

• Author: Harper, Jon

* In the face of growing threats to ground vehicles, the Defense Department is teaming with industry and academia to pursue alternatives to traditional armor systems. The Pentagon is chasing a range of cutting-edge technologies that could enhance survivability without sacrificing mobility.

U.S. military officials have been sounding the alarm about the need for a new approach.

"The problem we're seeing now is with the proliferation of [anti-tank guided missiles] and chemical energy munitions, shaped charges, etc....it's much easier to develop new ways to penetrate the armor" of U.S. military vehicles, Gen. David Perkins, commander of Army Training and Doctrine Command said at a recent conference.

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The Army is now on the losing side of the cost curve because adversaries can enhance their attack capabilities faster and cheaper than the United States can add heavier armor to its vehicles, he noted.

The Army has "got to think of a different way to protect," he said.

In November, the Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center will host a ground vehicle survivability training symposium at Fort Benning, Georgia. The confab is expected to cover a wide range of technologies that could improve vehicle survivability and mobility including: advanced materials; manufacturing techniques and design methodologies; active blast mitigation systems; physical and electronic decoy and deception applications; hit avoidance and active protection technologies; and concepts that address threats posed by unconventional weapons or delivery systems.

"The overarching attempt of that is to bring together government, industry and academia for technical training... to provide a technical foundation across Army acquisition and ground vehicle survivability" offices, said Erik Kallio, assistant associate director of ground system survivability at TAR DEC.

Classified sessions will involve a "deep dive" into ground vehicle survivability, he said.

Army requirements and acquisition communities will be represented to ensure that everyone is on the same page, he noted. The intent is to hold more of these symposia annually or biennially. The meetings will inform the overall ground vehicle survivability technical strategy, he said.

While the gatherings won't lead directly to requests for proposals, "understanding where the marketplace is indirectly informs future requirements," he added.

A key technology on the Army's radar is active protection systems, or APS, which are designed to intercept incoming enemy warheads and projectiles before they are able to land a fatal blow.

"To break that direct tie between weight and protection, there is an increasing emphasis on looking at active systems," Kallio said. "If you actively intercept a threat before it makes a terminal engagement with the vehicle, you can potentially take...