Safety Hazards and Recommended Safety Criteria/Requirements for Active Protection Systems for Armored Unarmored Vehicles

摘要

Due to the prevalence of rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) on battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan, armored and non-armored vehicles require active protection systems (APSs) to defend against these threats. Manufacturers from all over the world are developing APS candidate systems to address this urgent threat without giving much thought to system safety requirements. The array of APS candidates ranges from hard-kill systems that typically detect a threat and then fire a munition to destroy or deflect the incoming RPG or ATGM, to soft-kill systems that typically consist of electronic jammers that confuse missile guidance systems. Hard-kill systems integrate various sensors, such as radars, to detect the threat with either gun fired high explosive (HE) or kinetic projectiles or missiles that intercept and destroy the incoming RPG or ATGM. Numerous safety hazards were identified for typical hard and soft-kill APSs that could lead to safety mishaps for armored and unarmored vehicles. Based upon the safety hazards identified, this paper also provides a list of recommended safety criteria and requirements, from a U.S. Navy and Marine Corps perspective, to be utilized by program managers, designers, and safety engineers as a guide in designing or selecting an APS.