November
15, 2006: A U.S. manufacturer is trying to interest the U.S. Army in a new RPG
defense system. The Tactical RPG Airbag Protection System (TRAPS) uses a
vehicle airbag system, coupled with a cheap, small radar and microprocessor.
The radar can recognize the flight profile of an RPG (a rocket that travels at
about 150 meters a second) and activate the airbag. The RPG warhead hits the
airbag and usually bounces off without even exploding. If it does explode,
there is much less damage to the vehicle, than if the warhead had hit the
vehicle itself. Since most RPG warheads are armor piercing, this would make it
possible to put just enough armor on vehicles to stop bullets, and use several
TRAPS units to protect against RPGs. The manufacturer (Textron) wants to get
some TRAPS units into a combat zone, so it can be seen how the equipment
operates under combat (not test) conditions.
