Infantry Fighting Position - Overhead Cover and Revetment System

The rapidity with which reconnaissance assets can locate and identify defensive perimeters and the speed with which fire can be brought to bear on that target dictate that U.S. Army must be capable of providing its infantry and other ground forces a means of protecting their infantry fighting positions (IFP) from both direct and indirect fire in the shortest possible time after arrival at a defensive location. This protection system consists of two components, an overhead cover (OHC) for ballistic protection and a revetment system to support the walls of the IFP against blast loadings. Foster-Miller proposes to develop and demonstrate an IFP-OHC system which will meet the IFP revetment and ballistic requirements in a standardized but tailorable kit while minimizing installation time and maximizing the protection level provided to the infantry soldier. The system is based on a composite batten and fabric revetment frame and a laminatEd composite sandwich OHC panel fitted with threat specific applique armor. This methodology provides requisite protection from direct (7.62 mm) and indirect fire threats (155 mm), including overpressure from point detonating and airburst artillery, as well as IFP wall collapse caused by delay fuzed artillery rounds.