Sep 29 2009
Composite phenolic prepreg materials from Advanced Composites Group Ltd. (ACG), part of the Composites Division of Umeco plc, are being used by UK based Permali Gloucester Ltd to manufacture appliqué armour and spall liners for more than 100 military vehicles recently ordered by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) from ST Kinetics in a deal worth over £150M.
The project, which is dedicated to improving the protection of UK Armed Forces serving in urban environments of Afghanistan, will see the appliqué armour and spall liners used to 'morph' ST Kinetics' Bronco All Terrain Carrier into a variant that the MoD has designated the "Warthog".
The contract for the armour, which will be completed by mid 2010, will be fulfilled by Permali Gloucester Ltd., a company with significant experience of applying ACG's materials in this arena. Permali has developed the armour system to meet an exacting ballistic specification and to integrate with other essential equipment installed on the ST Kinetics' Warthog vehicle. Permali will be using technologies developed around ACG's ballistic phenolic prepreg materials, which Permali regards as being cost-effective and providing a solution that offers significant weight saving compared to traditional metallic solutions.
Permali will deliver sets of armour to ST Kinetics in Singapore and also to Thales in the UK, the latter of which is responsible for system integration for the programme.
The Warthog is a development of ST Kinetics' Bronco All Terrain Carrier, a robust and proven articulated platform with a payload of more than 5 tonnes. The platform's articulated design delivers exceptional mobility across a wide range of terrain and climate, and is extensively armoured. Described as a "beast of a vehicle", delivery of the Warthog will begin at the end of this year.