Iron Curtain was an active protection system ( APS) created in 2005 and designed by Artis, an American technology development and manufacturing firm. The system deactivated threats, such as

rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), also known colloquially as a rocket launcher, is a Shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon that launches rockets equipped with a Shaped charge, shaped-charge explosive warhead. Most RPGs can ...

s (RPG) and other shoulder-launched missiles. The company currently markets its latest system known as "Sentinel," a third-generation, software-defined, modular, close-in APS which Artis claims offers full top-attack protection, extensive multishot protection, protection against fuzed and kinetic energy threats, minimal collateral damage, and expansible to defeat future threats, usually with just a software upgrade. The system had been tested as part of an accelerated acquisition effort by the U.S. Army to characterize and field active protection systems as quickly as possible. It was evaluated on the

Stryker The Stryker is a family of Eight-wheel drive, eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III. Stryker vehicles are produced by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C) for the United States Army in a plant in L ...

Infantry Carrier Vehicle, with two systems undergoing tests by the U.S. Army: one at

Aberdeen Proving Ground Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland, United States. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work at APG. There are 11 major commands among the tenant units, ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

and the other at

Redstone Arsenal Redstone Arsenal is a United States Army base adjacent to Huntsville, Alabama in the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. A census-designated place in Madison County, Alabama, United States, it is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistica ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Technology

Iron Curtain used

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

to detect any incoming projectiles. As projectiles came into close range, the optical sensor tracked it within of accuracy to select an aim point and determine which ballistic countermeasure to fire. The countermeasure deflagrated the

RPG RPG may refer to: Military * Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon **''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade laun ...

warhead without detonating it, leaving the dudded round to bounce off the vehicle's side. Because of its shelf-like design, the system was able to be modified to protect almost any surface, from the sides of the vehicle to all-around protection, including a turret. Artis claimed that the Iron Curtain could be enhanced to protect against “more challenging threats” such as the

RPG-29 The RPG-29 "Vampir" is a Soviet Union, Soviet Reuse, reusable rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher. Adopted by the Soviet Army in 1989, it was the last RPG to be adopted by the Soviet Armed Forces, Soviet military before the Dissolution of the ...

and RPG-32 ‘Hashim’ multipurpose anti-tank grenade launchers, which utilize tandem warheads for penetrating tanks with

explosive reactive armor Reactive armour is a type of vehicle armour used in protecting vehicles, especially modern tanks, against shaped charges and hardened kinetic energy penetrators. The most common type is ''explosive reactive armour'' (ERA), but variants includ ...

. Iron Curtain was also able to defend against ATGMs (Anti-Tank Guided Missiles).

Safety

The system, which began in 2005 as a

DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adva ...

program, was capable of defeating threats fired from an extremely close range. It had undergone significant safety testing, including temperature and shock testing, and its software architecture had been approved by the U.S. military'
Joint Services Weapons Safety Review Process
The countermeasure fired straight down or up, neutralizing the incoming threat within inches of the vehicle and thereby separating the system from many others which intercept threats several meters out, resulting in minimal risk of

collateral damage "Collateral damage" is a term for any incidental and undesired death, injury or other damage inflicted, especially on civilians, as the result of an activity. Originally coined to describe military operations, it is now also used in non-milit ...

to dismounted troops or

civilians A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civilian enga ...

Radar

Iron Curtain was designed to be highly modular, and the system's radar did not need to track the threat; hence, a relatively inexpensive radar sufficed. Over time, several radars were integrated onto Iron Curtai

Army testing and characterization

In April 2013, the company had announced it achieved a perfect score during rigorous government tests. “We proved not only that Iron Curtain defeats threats and saves lives, but the risk from collateral damage is minimal, especially when compared with the alternative," said the company's

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

, Keith Brendley. Brendley affirmed that the system is ready to be deployed onto battlefields. In 2016, the U.S. Army began an expedited effort to install and characterize several APS's, including Iron Curtain on the

fighting vehicle, in preparation for fielding decisions. Then in August 2018 the Army decided not to continue qualifying Iron Curtain onto the Stryker, saying that while the system "generally worked in concept" and was "generally able to hit its targets," it was still not mature enough. Since that time, no system has been designated for the Stryker.

Vehicles integrated

The system had been integrated onto four ground vehicles, including tracked, turreted, and wheeled vehicles. In 2016, Iron Curtain was selected for integration onto the U.S. Army's

. Previously, Iron Curtain was integrated onto the Army's

Ground Combat Vehicle The Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) was a program initiated by the United States Army in 2009, with the goal of developing a next-generation armored fighting vehicle. The first variant of the GCV to be developed would be an infantry fighting vehicle ...

built by

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

; the MATV built by Oshkosh Defense; and the

Humvee The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of Military light utility vehicle, light, four-wheel drive Military vehicle#Military trucks, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It ...

built by

AM General AM General is an American heavy vehicle and contract manufacturer, contract automotive manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. It is best known for the civilian Hummer H1, Hummer and the military Humvee that are assembled in Mishawaka, Indiana. ...

. In addition,

General Dynamics Land Systems General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) is an American manufacturer of military vehicles, including tanks and light Armoured fighting vehicle, armored fighting vehicles. The company is based in Sterling Heights, Michigan, and is a subsidiary of Gen ...

designed the system for integration onto its

LAV III The LAV III is the third generation of the LAV (Canada), Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) family of armored personnel carriers built by General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada (GDLS-C), a London, Ontario, based subsidiary of General Dynamics Land ...

References

External links

Artis Iron Curtain websiteDARPA video of Iron Curtain demonstration, shooting down missileNational Geographic TV report on Iron Curtain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iron Curtain Active Protection System DARPA projects Missile countermeasures Armoured fighting vehicle equipment Weapons countermeasures Land active protection systems