720397Active Mine Protection System (AMPS)ClosedGRD Development of PrototypeInnovate UKFollowing the end of the cold war and apart from the invasion of Iraq, the emphasis for armoured vehicles has changed from heavy armour such as main battle tanks (MBT) to highly manoeuvrable light and medium armoured vehicles (LAV’s and MAV’s) which have been and are being used in recent conflicts such as the Balkans and Afghanistan where speed and manoeuvrability are key to operational effectiveness. Whilst LAV are fast and manoeuvrable, their light armour is susceptible to Improvised Explosive Devices (IED’s) and this has led to a cycle of “up-armouring” and design improvements (including “V” shaped hulls) by the LAV builders and a corresponding increase in the size of IED’s from 10Kg to 25, 50 and sometimes even much bigger devices in the 100 to 250kg range by the enemy. Although these improvements in design and the increase in armour plating have minimised the penetration of LAV hulls to even large IED’s, this has come at the penalty of weight and manoeuvrability. LAV’s and MAV’s have become 20 – 35 ton MRAP’s (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) which are often too heavy to cross existing bridges and often get bogged down in sand or mud. More importantly even though large IED’s at present do not penetrate the current heavy MRAP) vehicles, the blast is such that the vehicle is lifted at such a high rate (global acceleration) that the occupants can be killed or severely injured simply by the acceleration effects on their bodies. A jump height greater than 1m generally results in spinal injuries unless effective mine blast seats are fitted to the vehicle. The immediate focus of armed forces is to procure LAV’s and MAV’s that offer occupant protection through design against IED’s whilst minimising the weight penalty and maintaining manoeuvrability. ABBS has developed and proven the feasibility of two concepts for Active Mine Protection Systems (AMPS) for armoured vehicles which have a low additional weight. The system detects the mine blast forces and directly counteracts in equal measure the global acceleration threat to the vehicle occupants. The technology is novel, and is patented worldwide.