In a continuing effort to support the Long Term Armor Strategy (LTAS) for its Tactical Wheeled Vehicle fleet, the U.S. Army has released a new request for information under its Tactical Vehicle Armor Development (TVAD) program.
The request seeks to gather information about “available appliqué, opaque ballistic armor solutions meeting the LTAS Objective performance requirement, at less than 2.5 inches thick, weighing no more than 30 pounds per square foot that can be applied to tactical vehicles.”
U.S. Army Spc. Jan Rowson from Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, Field Artillery Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment guides a light medium tactical vehicle during a decisive action training environment exercise, Saber Junction 2012, at the Vilseck Army Airfield in Vilseck, Germany, Oct. 10, 2012. According to a new request for information, the Army is seeking armor solutions that can be applied to its tactical vehicle fleet. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Evangelia Grigiss
The request seeks armor information in the broad areas of material data, test data and production data.
In the case of material data, for example, interested contractors are asked to provide information like Material Name and Picture/Graphic to illustrate the armor, to include the geometry of the strike face, backing, and integration/attachment points, as well as Material Composition/Recipe, including an assembly drawing, thickness/size of each layer, size and layout of components of each layer. Along with confirmation of the maximum thickness (less than 2.5 inches) and areal density (less than 30 pounds per square foot), contractors must also state whether their material performs from -40 F to +140 F and whether it is transportable in the range of -51 F to +160 F with no deterioration. Additional material certifications involve factors like chemical resistance, ability to paint and ability to repair.
Test data is requested to help support or validate the material data claims.
Finally, the request seeks production data on material costs – in both dollars per pound and dollars per square foot – as well as the manufacturing costs to produce 148,000 square feet of the identified armor solution. Other issues to be addressed range from material availability to production location. Contractors are also asked whether they have a current integration scheme for attaching the vehicle armor and, if not, whether the ability exists to drill holes through the armor panels for vehicle mounting.