SBIR-STTR Award

Currently the air beam/arc shelters have no protection from mortar fragmentation or other indirect fire. In many cases, customary methods of ballistic protection such as sandbag walls and/or concrete barriers may require more logistical support than is available leaving the military personal vulnerable to enemy attack. The U.S. Army has evaluated the use of off-the-shelf armor materials and found them to be too heavy or too costly for real-time use. To protect the soldier from motor fragmentation, a lightweight protection is required that is low cost enough to be purchased for a large number of soft shelter systems. Tex Tech Industries and the University of Maine at Orono (UMaine) have the expertise, manufacturing capability, and plan to provide the U.S. Military protection against small arms and fragmenting munitions for Arc Shaped Shelters.

Keywords:
Ballistic Protection, Arc Shelter Protection, Core Technology, Ballistic Fabric, Low Cost Ballistic Protection

This SBIR will look to optimize four factors: ballistic protection, flexibility, weight and cube, and cost . The proposed arc tent protection system is intended to mitigate damage from indirect fire, such as a mortar attack, IEDs, and small arms fire. A mortar detonation causes two major threats to a soft-walled shelter. The mortar or IED releases fragments that have the capability to cause life threatening injuries to soldiers residing within the tent and the blast pressure produces a blast that could potentially rip apart the tent and cause portions of the tent to become a projectile.

Keywords:
Arc Shaped Shelter Protection, Ballistic Protection, Fragmentation Protection, Soft Shelter Systems