Anti-RPG... airbag?

As a big fan of KISS (keep is simple, stupid) engineering, I have to point up a new countermeasure for the ubiquitos RPG threat: automotive airbags!

This uses a modified car airbag, the radar technology found in police radar guns, and some pretty basic control software. Once TRAPS is turned on, it's radar constantly scans for any object fitting the size and speed profile of an incoming RPG warhead. If one is detected, the airbag deploys, and sets off the RPG warhead a safe distance from the vehicle.

www.strategypage.com...

It sounds odd at first, but the concept is actually pretty sound. Like the slat-armor currently worn by Stryker LAVs, it's essentially "spaced armor," trigering the RPG's shaped charge warhead far enough away from the vehicle to prevent major damage.

According to Wiki shapped charges are effective over "7 times their cone diameter." So the PG7-VR round (105mm) can be "neutralized" if you triger the warhead 735mm/29 inches out. Gen #1 airbags deployed at 200mph, so you'd need only ~.008 seconds to deploy your "airbag armor" once an attack is detected.

Compare this with alternative systems, such as Israel's Trophy, which activley shoot at RPG rounds, using expensive explosive countermeasures and risking collatoral damage even if the incoming round is stopped.

As weird as TRAPS sounds, keep in mind that the most successful air-to-air missile ever designed, the U.S. Sidewinder, came into existence the same way half a century ago. Some researchers took off-the-shelf technology (a standard 127mm free flight rocket, an infrared heat sensor, a battery and some simple electromechanical controls) and got the missile working in a few months. Effective technology doesn't have to be expensive, it just has to be well thought out, and do the job at a price the user can afford.

From the same source as before.

Who needs airbags when you can have a full-on invisible forcefield? I kid you not. =>

www3.youtube.com...

Originally posted by wecomeinpeace
Who needs airbags when you can have a full-on invisible forcefield? I kid you not. =>

www3.youtube.com...

Unfortunatly you have been kidded, or rather Fox News has no idea what it's talking about.

The Trophy system uses explosive rounds to knock down RPGs, it's a bit like the CIWS systems used on ships, only scaled down for use on vehicles.

Once an incoming threat is detected identified and verified, the Countermeasure Assembly is opened, the countermeasure device is positioned in the direction where it can effectively intercept the threat. Then, it is launched automatically into a ballistic trajectory to intercept the incoming threat at a relatively long distance.

www.defense-update.com...

Sorry, there's no Star Trek-style call for "shields up," just a mis-interpretation by the news crew.

Originally posted by RedMatt
Unfortunatly you have been kidded, or rather Fox News has no idea what it's talking about.
...
Sorry, there's no Star Trek-style call for "shields up," just a mis-interpretation by the news crew.

Bummer. I know diddly squat about weapons, but they made out like it was a forcefield created with some unknown super-tech. I wasn't imagining Star Trek stuff, but thought rather maybe controlled overpressure burst or something of the sort. I don't think this was a mistake on Faux's part, I think the intention was to give the wrong impression and spark some "oohs" and "ahhs" at Israeli/US invincible wonder-tech.

[edit on 2006-8-4 by wecomeinpeace]

WCiP
Don't feel bad dude, I thought the same thing when I saw that video a little while back.

The projectiles being fired at the RPG are moving too fast to be seen by the camera. If they filmed the sequence with a very expensive, very high-speed camera, you could see what's actually going on with the system - but I think that information is being held somewhat close to the vest in the interest of national security.

I think you're right about the faux news piece though, it sniffs of propaganda - what I don't know is if they have any say in that, or if they just run what they're told to run.

Red Matt
Are you sure the TROPHY's ammo is explosive? I was under the impression that it was an inert projectile, like a shotgun blast; a cloud of very high-speed 'shrapnel' that is effective at short distances. I think the explosions we're seeing in the videos are actually the payloads on the incoming rounds, detonating prematurely.

I could very well be mistaken though...

Is Trophy system that revolutionary as it shown in news?

Seems that russians have similar system in the service for good 10 years already.

armor.kiev.ua...

www.defense-update.com...

an airbag as an rpg stopper does sound odd at first and i dont think it will become reality for 2 reasons:
1) it could only be used once, but ths is the same as current amour.
2) the bag would have to be bullet proofed somehow probably by hiding it in amoured slots which would reduce reaction time to the point of uselessness.

cool idea though, keep thinking.

justin

Originally posted by WyrdeOne

Red Matt
Are you sure the TROPHY's ammo is explosive? I was under the impression that it was an inert projectile, like a shotgun blast; a cloud of very high-speed 'shrapnel' that is effective at short distances. I think the explosions we're seeing in the videos are actually the payloads on the incoming rounds, detonating prematurely.

I could very well be mistaken though...

I'm not sure at all, actually. I thought it was explosive, as with the 20mm ammo the land-based phalynx system is supposed to use. The advantage of an "airburst" round is it can be fired without having to worry about what might be behind the target (the ammo is destroyed before it goes any farther).

But I think your "shotgun blast" description is more accurate.

[edit on 4-8-2006 by RedMatt]

I've seen the air bag system and the trophy system the one you see on fox news or its equivalent.

In the fox news report they even say the counter measure is classified. I too though they got a force field working. All it is is a radar that spots the projectile and then targets it with its own projectile. Now I'm not sure what the countermeasure used is. If it is expensive then its not very practicle, cause rpgs are cheap. But if the targeting system is that good who to say they couldn't use a powerfull shotgun for example just enough impact to set it off or shred it. You might not need exspensive ammo.

Another possiblity is beam weapons. Yeah I know first thing you think of is some nasty laser with infinite range power but huge power usage which is out of the question.

But you might be able to trigger the fuse with some low power stuff in use today, but I don't know about fuses on rpgs and such.

The airbag is a keep it simple aproach. MAybe with some high tech its more feasible. Instead of your run of the mill airbag use kevlar as the liner. I'm sure the geeks at darpa can figure out a material that could withstand blasts and not be too expensive.

If you had an airbag system that could deploy withstand the blast and then repack itself on its own for repeated use that would be neat. This would be ideal because then it could be used for shielding the vehicle from ied blasts. between the shrapnel and blast heat i'm sure they could detect ieds as well even if its as they are exploding.

[edit on 10-8-2006 by American Madman]