GB2390578A - Armoured vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

Armoured vehicle has two inner wings 110, 111 which form side walls of an engine compartment 102 in which is housed an engine 105 and outer wing structures 116, 117. Each inner wing 110, 111 extends vertically from a respective chassis rail 112, 113, being connected at its lower end to the chassis rail by bolts and at its front end to a front end wall such as a ballistic grill (not shown) and at its rear end to a bulkhead 114. The inner wings 110, 111 are armoured, e.g. armour plate, and are positioned close to the engine 105 whereas the outer wing structures 116, 117 are relatively flimsy, e.g. stock pressed aluminium panels as used on in a production vehicle. In the event of an explosion in the region of one of a pair of front wheels 104, the effect of the blast is minimised by the outer wings collapsing to allow the products of the explosion to be readily dissipated.

Description

Armoured vehicles This invention relates to motor vehicles and in

particular to armoured vehicles.

It is an object of the invention to provide an armoured motor vehicle that has improved protection against the effect of a blast from a land mine explosion.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided an armoured vehicle 5 having two front wheels, a body structure defining a passenger compartment, an engine compartment housing an engine mounted between two chassis rails and a front wheel arch located on each side of the vehicle adjacent to the engine compartment to partially enclose a respective front wheel wherein each of the wheel arches comprises an inner armoured panel which extends substantially vertically from a respective chassis rail, is connected at 10 its lower end to the chassis rail and forms a side wall of the engine compartment and an outer wing structure attached to the inner armoured panel and arranged to fail in the event of an explosion under or adjacent a front wheel to allow the products of the explosion to be readily dissipated.

The outer wing structure may be arranged to fail by becoming detached from the inner 15 armoured panel. Alternatively, the outer wing structure may be partially ruptured and partially deformed during such an explosion without being completely detached.

Advantageously, the inner armoured panels are substantially flat.

Preferably, each inner armoured panel is made from a single piece of armoured material. 20 Advantageously, each of the inner armoured panels is positioned as close as possible to the engine to minimise the width of the engine compartment.

An armoured bonnet may extend over the engine compartment between the upper ends of the two inner armoured panels.

The outer wing structure may be made from thin gauge steel, plastic or aluminium.

The armoured vehicle may be based upon a standard production vehicle, in which 5 case each outer wing structure may be a standard production outer wing structure as fitted to the standard production vehicle. One or more ancillary items which are normally mounted inside the engine compartment in the standard production vehicle may be mounted outside of the engine compartment. This can help to minimise the distance between the inner armoured panels.

10 The invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Fig.1 is a crosssection through an engine compartment of an armoured vehicle in accordance with the invention.

An armoured vehicle 103 has an engine compartment 102 and a passenger 15 compartment (not shown), being supported by four wheels of which only the front wheels 104 are shown. An engine 105 is mounted in the engine compartment 102 between two chassis rails 112, 113 to provide drive for the vehicle 103. A number of ancillary items such as a screen washer reservoir 106, a power steering reservoir 107 and an exhaust gas recycling modulator 1 OB are also provided and mounted outside of the engine compartment 20 1 02.

To provide protection for the engine 105, the engine compartment 102 is constructed from a number of components designed to resist attack by small arms fire or small explosive devices such as 3 to 7kg land mines. An upper opening to the engine compartment 102 is protected by means of an armoured bonnet 109 made from an 25 armoured material such as armour plate. Each side of the engine compartment 102 is

protected by an armoured side wall in the form of an inner bullet and blast proof panel or inner wing panel 110, 111 forming part of a respective wheel arch 120 for one of the front wheels 104. Each wheel arch 120 partially encloses one of the front wheels 104 and is formed by the adjacent inner wing panel 110, 111 and an outer wing structure 116, 117 5 attached to the inner wing panels 110, 111.

As shown, each inner armoured panel 110, 111 is flat may be shaped as necessary or desirable to allow positioning close to the engine 105. Each inner armoured panel 110, 111 extends substantially vertically from the adjacent chassis rail 112, 113, being connected at its lower end to the chassis rail 112, 113, e.g. by bolts, and at its front end to 10 a front end wall such as a ballistic grill (not shown). The rear end of each inner armoured panel 110, 111 is connected (e.g. welded) to a bulkhead 114 which forms the rear wall of the engine compartment 102 and the front wall of the passenger compartment. The inner wing panels 110, 111 are positioned as close as possible to the engine 105 to minimise the width of the engine compartment 102. Each inner wing panel 110, 111 is constructed from 15 a single piece of armoured material such as armour plate. In the preferred example described, steel armour plate is used but other types of armour plate such as hardened aluminium alloy armour plate could also be used.

In the example shown, the outer wing structures 116, 117 are constructed from a single pressing made from 1 mm thick aluminium alloy. In addition, because the armoured 20 vehicle 103 is based upon a standard production vehicle, in this case the Land Rover Defender (Trade Marks), the outer wing structures from the production vehicle have been used. This is very cost effective due to the low cost of purchasing a mass produced component. However, each outer wing structure 116, 117 could be made from more than one component panel and other materials such as steel or plastic could be used. In any 25 event the outer wing structures 116, 117 are made from relatively thin material and are not blast resistant.

- 4 In the event of an explosion in the region of one of the front wheels, such as detonation of a land mine triggered by pressure from a front wheel, the outer wing structures 116, 117 are easily destroyed and allow the products of the explosion (gases and debris) to be readily dissipated. This is largely due to the relative weakness of the 5 aluminium alloy but other failure modes could be included by design, e.g. the outer wing structures 116, 117 could be connected to the inner wings 110, 111 such that they are readily detached when there is an explosion. The effective dissipation (rather than resistance to) the explosion products is important because any significant resistance by the front wing structure can easily topple or overturn a relatively light vehicle.

To It will be appreciated that the inner wings could be constructed from several pieces of armour plate and may not be completely flat. However, it is preferred to use a one-piece flat panel if possible because it is cheaper to manufacture.

The substantially vertical positioning of the inner wing panels 110, 111 is an advantage in the event of an explosion in the region of one of the front wheels 104 when 15 the blast of the explosion tend to be directed vertically upwardly. The products of the explosion tend to flow past the inner wings 110, 111 and any products which impact against the inner wings 110, 111 do so at a small angle so that their effect is minimised.

By positioning the inner wing panels 1 10, 111 as close as possible to the engine 105 to minimise the width of the engine compartment 102, the risk of any products from an 20 explosion entering the engine compartment is reduced because the area of the engine compartment 102 is smaller. Also, because the inner wings 110, 111 are positioned further away from the position where the explosion is likely to occur, i.e. under one of the wheels 104, the effect of an explosion is reduced. Furthermore, the small distance between the inner wings 1 10, 1 11 helps to reduce the width, and hence the weight, of the bonnet 109.

Prior to making the invention it was believed that enclosing the engine in an engine compartment of very small dimensions would be unworkable because of the reduction in the volume of free air available for cooling. However it has been found through testing that the use of a small engine compartment in which the inner wings are positioned very close 5 to the engine has little or no effect on the cooling of the engine. It is believed that this unexpected effect is probably due to a reduction in the air flow turbulence in the region of the engine.

Although the various ancillary components such as the screen washer reservoir 106, a power steering reservoir 107 and an exhaust gas recycling modulator 108 are mounted 10 outside of the protected engine compartment in a position where they could potentially be damaged by small arms fire, this is considered to be a minor disadvantage compared to the gains in protection offered by the invention and in any event the failure of any of these components will not render the vehicle inoperative. If required, these components could be repositioned, e.g. in the passenger compartment of the vehicle if their protection was 15 considered to be of special importance.

Claims (11)

- 6 CLAIMS

1. An armoured vehicle having two front wheels, a body structure defining a passenger compartment, an engine compartment housing an engine mounted between two chassis rails and a front wheel arch located on each side of the vehicle adjacent to the engine compartment to partially enclose a respective front wheel wherein each of the wheel arches comprises an inner armoured panel which extends substantially vertically from a respective chassis rail, is connected at its lower end to the chassis rail and forms a side wall of the engine compartment and an outer wing structure attached to the inner armoured panel and arranged to fail in the event of an explosion under or adjacent a front wheel to allow the products of the explosion to be readily dissipated.

2. A vehicle as claimed in claim 1 in which the outer wing structure is arranged to fail by becoming detached from the inner armoured panel.

3. A vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim in which each of the inner armoured panels is substantially flat.

4. A vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim in which each of the inner armoured panels is made from a single piece of armoured material.

S. A vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim in which each of the inner armoured panels is positioned as close as possible to the engine to minimise the width of the engine compartment.

6. A vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim in which an armoured bonnet extends over the engine compartment between the upper ends of the two inner armoured panels.

7. A vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim in which the outer wing structure is made from thin gauge steel, plastic or aluminium.

8. A vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim and based upon a standard production vehicle.

9. A vehicle as claimed in claim 8 in which each outer wing structure is a standard production outer wing structure as fitted to the standard production vehicle.

10. A vehicle as claimed in claim 8 or claim 9 in which one or more ancillary items which are normally mounted inside the engine compartment in the standard production vehicle are mounted outside of the engine compartment.

11. An armoured vehicle substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawing.