Light Weight Easily Deployable Blast Barriers and Barricades

Other than prevention the only way to deal with an explosive threat is to place a blast mitigation barricade between the threat and the structure(s) that need to be protected. Only after the barricade is in place can the threat be moved, disabled, or safely detonated. It is desirable that the barricade be portable and thus it needs to be light weight, compact, and easily manipulated by two to three individuals. Unfortunately a light weight, compact and easily moved barrier will not mitigate a blast from 100-150 kg of high explosive very well. Ideally what is needed is a light weight, compact and easily manipulated barrier that after being put in place can be altered to produce a heavy, large, and immobile blast barrier, energy absorber, or blast (shock wave) deflector. Federal fabrics-Fibers Inc. (FFF) has produced prototype products that exactly meet these specific requirements. These barricades weigh 20-40 lbs, when empty, so they are easy to manipulate during the early stages of development, when they are put into place. After positioning the barricade they are filled, preferably with water, or gel, from a convenient source to produce barricades that can weigh in excess of 25 tons.