1.
Plasan Sand Cat
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The Sand Cat is a composite armored vehicle designed by Plasan of Israel. It is based on a commercial Ford F-Series chassis shortened to a 2.84 m wheelbase by Manning Equipment of Louisville, Kentucky, examples have undergone trials by the IDF in Israel and the U. S. Army at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. A heavily armored version of the Sand Cat featuring ceramic body parts was presented to the U. S. military at the Platform System Demonstrator event in August 2006, at the 2008 Eurosatory, the Sand Cat was shown branded as an Oshkosh Corporation product. The new Sand Cat Stormer featuring more ballistic resistance and new advanced technologies will be produced by IBN Industrias Militares/ IBN Military Industries in 2016, the Sand Cat was first shown publicly as the Caracal at the AUSA show in October 2005. It has since been presented at shows including the 2005 Milipol law enforcement show in Paris, the 2006 Mid-America Trucking Show. In June 2008, the Sand Cat was relaunched as a product of Oshkosh Defense, now based on the 9-ton F550 chassis, it is being pitched to fill the gap between the armored HMMWV and the anticipated JLTV. The Oshkosh Sand Cat includes lessons learned from the MRAP series and features impact-absorbing suspended seats, in 2010 the SandCat was upgraded with twice the underbody blast protection of previous versions. The Sand Cat Tactical Protective Vehicle was first unveiled in LAAD2011, local production of the Sand Cat is done by Blindajes Epel for the Mexican Army, with assistance of Oshkosh Defense. The design was described by Israeli car magazine Hegeh as being as sexy as a female air-force commander, the trapezoid shaped side windows are designed to reduce the weight of transparent armor without adversely affecting the field of vision. The fully armored body utilises a combination of armored steel, ceramics, the Sand Cat is reported to have excellent handling and acceleration for an armored vehicle. The interior can accommodate an open stretcher, Sand Cat Plus, In July 2007 Plasan released information about a new version of the Sand Cat, the Sand Cat Plus. Featuring a station wagon style body and 8 seats it was designed as a vehicle for use by elite units. In contrast to the military Sand Cat, the Plus is fitted with side body mouldings and is painted in civilian colors. Despite the SUV appearance it still has a level of armor as well as NBC. It has a small turning circle and has been described as surprisingly quick for a 7 ton vehicle. Sand Cat Stormer Sand Cat M-PLV, Exhibited in 2010, the Mine-Protected Light Patrol Vehicle is meant for missions that requires protection from mine blasts, IEDS and AP ammunition
2.
Composhield
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Composhield A/S is a Danish armor manufacturer and integrator established in 2000. Composhield was created in 1996 as a research project in the company Giantcode A/S. In 2000 it became an independent company as Composhield A/S, in 2007 Composhield A/S formed a joint-venture, AMTANK Armor LLC. together with American Tank & Fabricating Company, to serve the North American market. Composhield is a privately held company, the company produces polymer compact reinforced composites as for structure protection. At IDEX2013 Composhield presented a low weight RPG protection kit based on 3D add-on armor modules, Composhield composite armor is used in various military vehicles, several of which have been fielded in theaters of operation such as Afghanistan
3.
British Army
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The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom. As of 2017 the British Army comprises just over 80,000 trained Regular, or full-time, personnel and just over 26,500 trained Reserve, or part-time personnel. Therefore, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the Army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, day to day the Army comes under administration of the Ministry of Defence and is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. Repeatedly emerging victorious from these decisive wars allowed Britain to influence world events with its policies and establish itself as one of the leading military. In 1660 the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were restored under Charles II, Charles favoured the foundation of a new army under royal control and began work towards its establishment by August 1660. The Royal Scots Army and the Irish Army were financed by the Parliament of Scotland, the order of seniority of the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons, after William and Marys accession to the throne, England involved itself in the War of the Grand Alliance, primarily to prevent a French invasion restoring Marys father, James II. Spain, in the two centuries, had been the dominant global power, and the chief threat to Englands early transatlantic ambitions. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. From the time of the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, Great Britain was the naval power. As had its predecessor, the English Army, the British Army fought the Kingdoms of Spain, France, and the Netherlands for supremacy in North America and the West Indies. With native and provincial assistance, the Army conquered New France in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War, the British Army suffered defeat in the American War of Independence, losing the Thirteen Colonies but holding on to Canada. The British Army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars and served in campaigns across Europe. The war between the British and the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte stretched around the world and at its peak, in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. A Coalition of Anglo-Dutch and Prussian Armies under the Duke of Wellington, the English had been involved, both politically and militarily, in Ireland since being given the Lordship of Ireland by the Pope in 1171. The campaign of the English republican Protector, Oliver Cromwell, involved uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns that had supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, the English Army stayed in Ireland primarily to suppress numerous Irish revolts and campaigns for independence. Having learnt from their experience in America, the British government sought a political solution, the British Army found itself fighting Irish rebels, both Protestant and Catholic, primarily in Ulster and Leinster in the 1798 rebellion. The Haldane Reforms of 1907 formally created the Territorial Force as the Armys volunteer reserve component by merging and reorganising the Volunteer Force, Militia, Great Britains dominance of the world had been challenged by numerous other powers, in the 20th century, most notably Germany
4.
Challenger 2
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The FV4034 Challenger 2 is a British main battle tank in service with the armies of the United Kingdom and Oman. It was designed and built by the British company Vickers Defence Systems, Vickers Defence Systems began to develop a successor to Challenger 1 as a private venture in 1986. A £90 million deal for a vehicle was finalised in January 1989. In June 1991, the Ministry of Defence placed a £520 million order for 140 vehicles, production began in 1993 and the units tanks were delivered in July 1994, replacing the Challenger 1. The tank entered service with the British Army in 1998, with the last delivered in 2002 and it is expected to remain in service until 2035. The Royal Army of Oman ordered 18 Challenger 2s in 1993, the Challenger 2 is an extensive redesign of the Challenger 1. Although the hull and automotive components seem similar, they are of a design and build than those of the Challenger 1. The tanks drive system provides a 550 km range, with a road speed of 59 km/h. The Challenger 2 is equipped with a 120-millimetre 55-calibre long L30A1 tank gun, the Challenger 2 is also armed with a L94A1 EX-347.62 mm chain gun and a 7.62 mm L37A2 machine gun. Fifty eight main armament rounds and 4,200 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition are carried, the Challenger 2 is considered to be one of the best protected tanks in the world. The turret and hull are protected with second generation Chobham armour, on one occasion, in August 2006, during the post-invasion stage of the Iraq War, an RPG-29 was fired at a Challenger 2 that was climbing over a ramp. The armour on its front underside hull, which was not augmented with an explosive reactive armour package, was damaged, the tank subsequently returned to base under its own power and was quickly repaired and back on duty the following day. As a response to the incident, the reactive armour package was replaced with a Dorchester block. It has seen service in Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq. The Challenger 2 is the vehicle of this name, the first being the A30 Challenger. The second was the Persian Gulf War era Challenger 1, which was the British armys main battle tank from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s, Vickers Defence Systems began to develop a successor to Challenger 1 as a private venture in 1986. Following the issue of a Staff Requirement for a next-generation tank, the demonstration phase contained three milestones for progress, with dates of September 1989, March 1990, and September 1990. At the last of these milestones, Vickers was to have met 11 key criteria for the tanks design, in June 1991, after competition with other tank manufacturers designs, the MoD placed a £520 million order for 127 MBTs and 13 driver training vehicles
5.
Main battle tank
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A main battle tank, also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the armor-protected direct fire and maneuver role of many modern armies. Through the 1960s, the MBT replaced almost all other tanks, today, main battle tanks are considered a key component of modern armies. Modern MBTs seldom operate alone, as they are organized into armoured units which involve the support of infantry and they are also often supported by surveillance or ground-attack aircraft. In World War I, tanks were classed into light, medium, and heavy based on weight, as tank combat evolved, tank design suffered from a number of limitations due largely to engine power and transmission capability. A designer could produce a tank with high maneuverability, armour, or a large gun, the first prioritised maneuverability, and thus had a limit on weight. These were known variously as cavalry tanks, light tanks, medium tanks and these tanks had different uses depending on the countrys tank doctrine, but were generally used to exploit holes in the enemy lines and run far into the rear areas in self-supporting armoured groups. This would disrupt enemy logistics and command-and-control, as well as delay the movement of reserves to the front and it was believed operations of this sort would undermine or completely destroy the ability for the front-line troops to continue battle. The second class prioritised armour and thus weighed more, limiting maneuverability and these were known as infantry tanks, heavy tanks, or assault tanks. They were generally designed to assault enemy lines, working in concert with front-line infantry, as these were expected to move forward at the same speed as the men, higher speeds were not required and the engine power could instead be used to carry a much greater load. Infantry tanks featured much larger amounts of armour, heavier guns, as the nature of tank warfare evolved, tanks designed for other specialised roles also saw development. This included dedicated tank destroyers, and engineer tanks such as Hobarts Funnies, Tank destroyers had varied successes, and often ended up engaging enemy infantry instead of their intended targets. German assault gun armoured vehicles like the Sturmgeschütz III were found effective in an anti-tank role, in spite of a great amount of theory and pre-war testing, the plans for armoured combat quickly proved themselves outdated. The battlefield did not bog down like it did in World War I and this was especially evident in the great sweeping battles in North Africa and the Soviet Union, where armoured forces executed drives of hundreds of miles. In these cases the problems with having two became especially evident, the tanks able to go toe-to-toe with the enemy were generally found miles to the rear. Those able to maintain the drive were lightly armoured, and proved easy prey for enemy anti-tank guns, as these evolved, the tanks own weapons had to grow larger in order to deal with enemy tanks with the same level of armour. This evolution led to the development of a more general-purpose medium tank, medium tanks formed the bulk of the tank combat forces. Generally these designs massed about 25-30 tonnes, were armed with cannons around 75 mm, notable examples include the Soviet T-34, the German Panzer IV, and the US M4 Sherman. The widespread production of designs led to most others being pushed out of service or into niche roles
6.
Chobham armour
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Chobham armour is the informal name of a composite armour developed in the 1960s at the British tank research centre on Chobham Common, Surrey. The name has become the common generic term for composite ceramic vehicle armour. Other names informally given to Chobham Armour include Burlington and Dorchester, due to the extreme hardness of the ceramics used, they offer superior resistance against shaped charges such as high explosive anti-tank rounds and they shatter kinetic energy penetrators. The armour was first tested in the context of the development of a British prototype vehicle, the FV4211, only the M1 Abrams, Challenger 1, and Challenger 2 tanks have been disclosed as being thus armoured. The framework holding the ceramics is produced in large blocks, giving these tanks, and especially their turrets. Due to the hardness of the ceramics used, they offer superior resistance against a shaped charge jet. The ceramic also strongly abrades any penetrator and this initiates a vicious circle as the disturbed jet causes still greater irregularities in the ceramic, until in the end it is defeated. The newer composites, though tougher, optimise this effect as tiles made with them have an internal structure conducive to it. This mechanism—using the jets own energy against it—has caused the effects of Chobham to be compared to those of reactive armour. This should not be confused with the used in many laminate armours of any kind. Both attack methods will suffer from obstruction to their expected paths, so experiencing a greater thickness of armour than there is nominally, thus lowering penetration. Also for rod penetrations, the force experienced due to the deformation may cause the rod to shatter, bend, or just change its path. During the second Iraq war in 2003, a Challenger 2 tank became stuck in a ditch while fighting in Basra against Iraqi forces, the crew remained safe inside for many hours, the composite Chobham 2 armour protecting them from enemy fire, including rocket propelled grenades. Ceramic tiles have a multiple hit capability problem in that they cannot sustain successive impacts without quickly losing much of their protective value. The small hexagonal or square ceramic tiles are encased within the matrix either by pressing them into the heated matrix. The matrix has to be backed by a plate, both to reinforce the ceramic tiles from behind and to prevent deformation of the matrix by a kinetic impact. Typically the backing plate has half of the mass of the composite matrix, the assemblage is again attached to elastic layers. These absorb impacts somewhat, but their function is to prolong the service life of the composite matrix by protecting it against vibrations
7.
Vehicle armour
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Military vehicles are commonly armoured to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, missiles or shells, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fighting vehicles like tanks, aircraft and ships, civilian vehicles may also be armoured. These vehicles include cars used by reporters, officials and others in conflict zones or where violent crime is common, armoured cars are also routinely used by security firms to carry money or valuables to reduce the risk of highway robbery or the hijacking of the cargo. Armour may also be used in vehicles to protect from other than a deliberate attack. Some spacecraft are equipped with specialised armour to protect them against impacts from micrometeoroids or fragments of space junk, the design and purpose of the vehicle determines the amount of armour plating carried, as the plating is often very heavy and excessive amounts of armour restrict mobility. In order to decrease this problem, some new materials and material compositions are being researched which include buckypaper, rolled homogeneous armour is strong, hard, and tough. Steel with these characteristics is produced by processing cast steel billets of appropriate size, rolling and forging irons out the grain structure in the steel, removing imperfections which would reduce the strength of the steel. Aluminium is used when weight is a necessity. It is most commonly used on APCs and armoured cars, wrought iron was used on ironclad warships. Early European iron armour consisted of 10 to 13 cm of wrought iron backed by up to one meter of solid wood, titanium is roughly the weight of aluminium, but as strong as iron. So despite being rather expensive, it finds an application in areas where weight is a concern, such as personal armour, because of its high density, depleted uranium can also be used in tank armour, sandwiched between sheets of steel armour plate. Plastic metal was a type of vehicle armour originally developed for merchant ships by the British Admiralty in 1940, the original composition was described as 50% clean granite of half-inch size, 43% of limestone mineral, and 7% of bitumen. It was typically applied in a two inches thick and backed by half an inch of steel. Plastic armour could be applied by pouring it into a cavity formed by the backing plate. Bulletproof glass is a term for glass that is particularly resistant to being penetrated when struck by bullets. The industry generally refers to it as bullet-resistant glass or transparent armour, bullet-resistant glass is usually constructed using a strong but transparent material such as polycarbonate thermoplastic or by using layers of laminated glass. The desired result is a material with the appearance and light-transmitting behaviour of standard glass, the polycarbonate layer, usually consisting of products such as Armormax, Makroclear, Cyrolon, Lexan or Tuffak, is often sandwiched between layers of regular glass. The use of plastic in the laminate provides impact-resistance, such as physical assault with a hammer, the plastic provides little in the way of bullet-resistance
8.
Metal
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A metal is a material that is typically hard, opaque, shiny, and has good electrical and thermal conductivity. Metals are generally malleable—that is, they can be hammered or pressed permanently out of shape without breaking or cracking—as well as fusible and ductile, about 91 of the 118 elements in the periodic table are metals, the others are nonmetals or metalloids. Some elements appear in both metallic and non-metallic forms, astrophysicists use the term metal to collectively describe all elements other than hydrogen and helium, the simplest two, in a star. The star fuses smaller atoms, mostly hydrogen and helium, to larger ones over its lifetime. In that sense, the metallicity of an object is the proportion of its matter made up of all chemical elements. Many elements and compounds that are not normally classified as metals become metallic under high pressures, the atoms of metallic substances are typically arranged in one of three common crystal structures, namely body-centered cubic, face-centered cubic, and hexagonal close-packed. In bcc, each atom is positioned at the center of a cube of eight others, in fcc and hcp, each atom is surrounded by twelve others, but the stacking of the layers differs. Some metals adopt different structures depending on the temperature, atoms of metals readily lose their outer shell electrons, resulting in a free flowing cloud of electrons within their otherwise solid arrangement. This provides the ability of metallic substances to easily transmit heat, while this flow of electrons occurs, the solid characteristic of the metal is produced by electrostatic interactions between each atom and the electron cloud. This type of bond is called a metallic bond, Metals are usually inclined to form cations through electron loss, reacting with oxygen in the air to form oxides over various timescales. Examples,4 Na + O2 →2 Na2O2 Ca + O2 →2 CaO4 Al +3 O2 →2 Al2O3, the transition metals are slower to oxidize because they form a passivating layer of oxide that protects the interior. Others, like palladium, platinum and gold, do not react with the atmosphere at all, some metals form a barrier layer of oxide on their surface which cannot be penetrated by further oxygen molecules and thus retain their shiny appearance and good conductivity for many decades. The oxides of metals are generally basic, as opposed to those of nonmetals, exceptions are largely oxides with very high oxidation states such as CrO3, Mn2O7, and OsO4, which have strictly acidic reactions. Painting, anodizing or plating metals are good ways to prevent their corrosion, however, a more reactive metal in the electrochemical series must be chosen for coating, especially when chipping of the coating is expected. Water and the two form an electrochemical cell, and if the coating is less reactive than the coatee. Metals in general have high conductivity, high thermal conductivity. Typically they are malleable and ductile, deforming under stress without cleaving, in terms of optical properties, metals are shiny and lustrous. Sheets of metal beyond a few micrometres in thickness appear opaque, although most metals have higher densities than most nonmetals, there is wide variation in their densities, lithium being the least dense solid element and osmium the densest
9.
Plastic
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Plastic is a material consisting of any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic compounds that are malleable and can be molded into solid objects. Plastics are typically organic polymers of high mass, but they often contain other substances. They are usually synthetic, most commonly derived from petrochemicals, due to their relatively low cost, ease of manufacture, versatility, and imperviousness to water, plastics are used in an enormous and expanding range of products, from paper clips to spaceships. They have already displaced many traditional materials, such as wood, stone, horn and bone, leather, paper, metal, glass, and ceramic, in most of their former uses. In developed countries, about a third of plastic is used in packaging, other uses include automobiles, furniture, and toys. In the developing world, the ratios may be different - for example, the worlds first fully synthetic plastic was bakelite, invented in New York in 1907 by Leo Baekeland who coined the term plastics. Toward the end of the century, one approach to this problem was met with wide efforts toward recycling, the word plastic is derived from the Greek πλαστικός meaning capable of being shaped or molded, from πλαστός meaning molded. The common word plastic should not be confused with the technical adjective plastic, used for insulating parts in electrical fixtures, paper laminated products, thermally insulation foams. Problems include the probability of moldings naturally being dark colors, One of the most expensive commercial polymers. It forms the basis of artistic and commercial acrylic paints when suspended in water with the use of other agents, polytetrafluoroethylene – Heat-resistant, low-friction coatings, used in things like non-stick surfaces for frying pans, plumbers tape and water slides. It is more known as Teflon. Urea-formaldehyde – One of the aminoplasts and used as an alternative to phenolics. Used as an adhesive and electrical switch housings. Early plastics were bio-derived materials such as egg and blood proteins, in 1600 BC, Mesoamericans used natural rubber for balls, bands, and figurines. Treated cattle horns were used as windows for lanterns in the Middle Ages, materials that mimicked the properties of horns were developed by treating milk-proteins with lye. In the 1800s, as industrial chemistry developed during the Industrial Revolution, the development of plastics also accelerated with Charles Goodyears discovery of vulcanization to thermoset materials derived from natural rubber. Parkesine is considered the first man-made plastic, the plastic material was patented by Alexander Parkes, In Birmingham, UK in 1856. It was unveiled at the 1862 Great International Exhibition in London, parkesine won a bronze medal at the 1862 Worlds fair in London
