Israel unveils self-defense system to protect armored vehicles in three dimensions

The Israeli company Plasan has unveiled a self-defense system claimed to be capable of protecting light armored vehicles in three dimensions. It consists of three systems that can be used individually or in combination.

The main concept of the development is to abandon the banal thickening of steel armor in favor of "smart" electromechanical solutions that are capable of precisely countering the threats of the modern battlefield without critically increasing the weight of the vehicles.

The LAPS (Leg Active Protection System), which ensures crew safety during a mine explosion, is integrated into the energy-absorbing seats. Electronic sensors detect the mine explosion under the vehicle within milliseconds and automatically lift the crew members' legs before the detonation wave deforms the floor, preventing fractures and loss of lower limbs.

ATHENA (Advanced Thickening Energy Armor) is designed to replace traditional explosive reactive armor against shaped-charge projectiles, RPGs, and tandem munitions. Upon impact, ATHENA's intermediate composite layer expands rapidly due to the projectile's kinetic energy, disrupting and deflecting the shaped-charge jet. Since it contains no explosives, it is completely safe for infantry positioned near the armored vehicle. The system is reportedly in the final stages of development and has been tested in real-world conditions.

TAPS (Top Attack Protection System) is a carpet with spike-shaped elements (the so-calledhedgehog armor" ) weighing 17 kg per m², on which the crew can walk without damage. It covers the hatches, turret, and engine compartment from the main threat of recent years – FPV-drones, quadcopter drops, and cluster submunitions. Several Western armies have already approved TAPS for serial deployment on their equipment.

According to the developer, these solutions are ideal for light armored vehicles, as it is difficult to add passive armor to them due to weight restrictions.

Comments

[Pivot]

Well, only time and combat experience will show the effectiveness of these decisions; it is always better to do something and implement it on the battlefield than to do nothing and hope that everything will pass.

[alexputnik17]

Does throwing up soldiers' legs protect them from anti-tank mines? And then from RPGs and other things when they're immobilized?

[Netl]

Quote: alexputnik17

And then on the immobilized one

It's impossible to create protection against an anti-tank mine so that equipment can continue operating safely at its current technical level after hitting one. Even using a lowboy (when the vehicle itself isn't the one hitting the mine) still requires a fairly quick replacement.

However, it is possible to rescue people inside the vehicle, which is what such systems do. But, of course, after hitting an anti-tank mine, the damaged vehicle must be abandoned.

[Mister X]

Quote: Netl

Make such protection against anti-tank mines...

One can
Throw up not the crew's legs, but the car itself)
Like a jumping tank/APC
But this is a dead end

[Sergey Tkach]

"The electronics detect a mine explosion under the vehicle in milliseconds and automatically lift the soldiers' legs up before the detonation wave deforms the floor"—in those milliseconds, the landing party will lay down a fair amount of bricks. Seriously, that's good, of course. But it won't help against massive drone attacks.

[cpls22]

Quote: Sergey Tkach

Seriously speaking, this is of course good.

Seriously speaking, it’s not clear how these legs can be thrown up faster than a detonation wave without breaking them.

[silverwolf88]

All that remains is to see how it all burns in Lebanon and Gaza... but it's certainly a captivating advertising story.

[alexputnik17]

Quote: silberwolf88

All that remains is to see how it all burns in Lebanon and Gaza... but it's certainly a captivating advertising story.

The main thing is that they don’t grill the equipment with their characteristic persistence, otherwise it will ruin the whole look of Hezbollah.

[Eugene Zaboy]

According to the developer, these solutions are ideal for light armored vehicles, as it is difficult to add passive armor to them due to weight restrictions.

It might turn out to be a decision from the series "Merkava is the best tank in the world."

[AlexSam]

I'd like to hear more about TAPS. I wonder what kind of hedgehog armor it is and how it works. How tall should the spikes be to slow down a drone or the projectile it drops without causing significant damage to the surface? And why do such ideas occur to Jews and not our own weapons "geniuses"? Or is it just too cheap and easy to make spikes? Could domestic APS manufacturers, who have spent decades perfecting them, end up in bankruptcy?

[nik-mazur]

Quote: AlexSam

I'd like to learn more about TAPS. I wonder what kind of hedgehog armor it is and how it works... I also wonder why such ideas come to the minds of Jews, and not our weapons "geniuses."

It's funny, you have no idea what the "Jews" came up with and how feasible it is, but that doesn't stop you from blaming our guys for not doing the same.

[cpls22]

TAPS (Top Attack Protection System) is a carpet with spike-like elements (so-called "hedgehog armor") weighing 17 kg per m², on which the crew can walk without damaging it.

So, God himself ordered that instead of fluffed steel cables, something be made from polymers.
It's lighter and has a lower thermal signature. It's like artificial turf, only longer.

[nik-mazur]

Electronics detect the explosion of a mine under the vehicle within milliseconds and automatically raise the fighters' legs up before the detonation wave deforms the floor.

As far as I know, detonation speeds start at 1 km/sec and can reach 9 km/sec. Even if the distance to the feet is a meter, the slowest detonation wave will travel that distance in a maximum of one thousandth of a second. Even if some system manages to detect and respond, it would have to do so at a comparable speed. Ultimately, a person's feet will be completely indifferent to what exactly propelled them upward at speeds between one and nine km/sec.

Although, perhaps I just don’t understand something about physics, and Jewish engineers have found a way to make human legs insensitive to such loads.
Alternatively, someone is whistling artistically – either the PR department of an Israeli company, or the journalists raped by the scientist.

[Driller]

Quote from: nik-mazur

Even if the distance to the feet is a meter, the slowest detonation wave will travel this distance in a maximum of one thousandth of a second.

Is there nothing between the detonation source and your feet? Is there anything blocking the wave?

[nik-mazur]

Quote: Driller

And there is nothing between the source of the detonation and the legs.

Of course there is. You could even go to the trouble of calculating it, taking into account all the conditions and the strength of materials, but something tells me the result will still be rather depressing. Since it's assumed that the floor exposed to detonation will injure the legs, it follows that the system should invariably remove those same legs from the impact at a comparable speed. So, it's like an owl hitting a stump, like a stump hitting an owl.
If, of course, the essence of the problem and its solution are conveyed correctly. Which, by the way, I'm not at all sure about.

[Graz]

Their vaunted trophy doesn't seem to be saving their armor in Lebanon from the FPVs, so I wouldn't trust the big-nosed ones.

[svarog77]

They could at least draw cartoons, otherwise there are only drawings... although they are Jews...

[nik-mazur]

TAPS (Top Attack Protection System) is a carpet with spiked elements

But this grass on the armor is unlikely to work, since all the nets, grills, and hedgehogs are needed to trigger the shaped charge as far from the armor as possible. Ten to twenty centimeters are unlikely to have any significant impact.

Upon impact, the intermediate composite layer ATHENA expands sharply due to the kinetic energy of the projectile itself, destroying and deflecting the cumulative jet

It's difficult to say anything about the composite, since it's unclear what it is and how it works. But for it to work, the layer thickness would have to be quite significant.
NB This is a different topic, but it seems there were some experiments with non-Newtonian fluids, but I haven’t heard about the results.

[Man is Humane]

Most likely a type of non-explosive dynamic protection. It also uses a polymer that expands under the action of a shaped-charge jet, providing protection.

[ex_paragon]

What nonsense. Some kind of hedgehogs, electronics from detonation. Keep away from me.

[aszzz888]

ex_paragon
(alex)
+1
Today, 21: 30
What nonsense. Some kind of hedgehogs, electronics from detonation. Keep away from me.

Jewish fairy tales and wishes...

[stone]

Of course it's nonsense! But Plasan is one of the world's leaders in the booking industry.

[AlexSam]

Quote from: nik-mazur

You have no idea what the "Jews" came up with and how feasible it is.

Unfortunately for you, I graduated from a Soviet school and received my higher education under the Soviet curriculum with the help of Soviet teachers. It's largely thanks to this that my brain allows me to have a general idea of ​​what this development is all about. And the success of our developers and manufacturers is vividly illustrated by the SVO.

[nik-mazur]

Quote: AlexSam

To your dismay, I graduated from a Soviet school and received my higher education under the Soviet curriculum.

What are you saying, what a disappointment... On the contrary, it is a real joy to meet the only person in the world who graduated from a Soviet school and received a Soviet higher education.

Quote: AlexSam

The success of our developers and manufacturers is clearly illustrated by the SVO

In your head.

[lshka]

"Mangaling" steel against drones is a dead end, in my opinion, due to the weight and dimensions, but creating "needles" like a hedgehog out of plastic is an option, but then again, the dimensions... And something like a cape is disposable, will it help against tandems?