WO2008122792A1

WO2008122792A1 - Armoured amphibian

Info

Publication number: WO2008122792A1
Application number: PCT/GB2008/001218
Authority: WO
Inventors: Neil Graham Jenkins
Original assignee: Gibbs Technologies Limited
Priority date: 2007-04-05
Filing date: 2008-04-07
Publication date: 2008-10-16
Also published as: GB2448186B; GB2448186A; GB0706771D0

Abstract

An amphibian (10) for use on land and water comprises a main structure (11), land propulsion means, and water propulsion means, which may be at least one jet (not shown). The land propulsion means may comprise two tracked drives (12), which may be retractable for operation on water. The amphibian also comprises modular armour, comprising a plurality of sections (20, 22, 24, 26), which can be detached from the amphibian. There may be several sets of armour, having different characteristics or weight. In particular, up to four sets of armour may be provided for the amphibian: expeditionary armour, light enough to allow planing; full armour allowing displacement travel on water; heavy armour, allowing wading through water; and very heavy armour, which would prevent use on water. The armour may comprise 'birdcaging'. The different levels of armour allow the amphibian to fulfil multiple missions and to be a versatile inventory unit.

Description

ARMOURED AMPHIBIAN

The present invention relates to an amphibian. In particular, the invention relates to an amphibian having configurable protective armour.

An amphibian having protective armour is known from US 3,983,832. This document describes a vehicle in which armour plates on the side of the vehicle can move between a vertical position and a horizontal ,position . In the horizontal, the armour plates acts as planing skis. However, this protective armour is not configurable.

The present invention provides, in a first aspect, an amphibian for use on land and on water, the amphibian comprising: a main structure; land propulsion means; marine propulsion means; and configurable armour for selective attachment to and/or selective detachment from the main structure of the amphibian so as to provide at least two operational configurations, the at least two operational configurations comprising : a planing operational configuration enabling the amphibian to plane when used on water; and a displacement operational configuration enabling the amphibian to travel on water in a displacement mode.

In a second aspect, the present invention provides an amphibian for use on land and on water, the amphibian comprising: a main structure; land propulsion means; marine propulsion means; and configurable armour for selective attachment to and/or selective detachment from the main structure of the amphibian so as to provide at least two operational configurations, the at least two operational configurations comprising two or more of the following: a planing operational configuration enabling the amphibian to plane when used on water; a displacement operational configuration enabling the amphibian to travel on water in a displacement mode; a wading operational configuration enabling the amphibian to wade when used on water; or a land only operational configuration enabling the amphibian to travel on land only.

In a third aspect, the present invention provides a method of operating an amphibian comprising: providing an amphibian according to any one of the preceding claims; and attaching and/or detaching some or all of the configurable armour to and/or from the amphibian in dependence upon the at least two operational configurations desired.

Thus, the configurable armour can be attached and/or detached to modify the characteristics of the amphibian according to operational reguirements . Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic side elevation of an amphibian according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic cutaway front elevation view of the amphibian;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the amphibian according to the present invention.

Figure 1 shows an amphibian 10 having a main structure in a form of a hull 11. The amphibian 10 has a front (bow) 13 and a rear (stern) 19. The amphibian 10 is propelled on land by means of a tracked drive 12 extending longitudinally along each side of the hull 11. Each tracked drive 12 is a single track on one side of the amphibian. The tracked drives 12 comprise one or more driven wheels 15 and one or more non-driven wheels 16. The tracked drive 12 further comprises a track 18 in the form of an endless loop supported by the wheels 15, 16 in a conventional tracked drive arrangement. Alternatively, the amphibian 10 may be driven on land by conventional road wheels having tyres, or may be in the form of a half-track. The amphibian 10 is shown standing on ground 520.

The hull 11 is a vee type hull as shown in Figure 2. The amphibian 10 additionally has a marine propulsion means for travelling on water. This is preferably in a form of at least one jet drive (not shown) . The jet drive is able to generate sufficient force to allow the amphibian 10 to plane on water. The amphibian 10 is provided with configurable armour for protection against weapons fired at the amphibian 10. The amphibian 10 may have side armour 20 on its sides and/or roof armour 22 on its roof. The amphibian 10 preferably also has front armour 24 at its front 13, and/or rear armour 26 at its rear 19. The underside of the hull 11 may also be provided with armour (not shown) .

The armour 20, 22, 24, 26 may be of any known type, for example steel plate, ceramic, composite, etc. The armour may be plate like or of a complex structure, or may be spaced armour, being two or more plates or bodies spaced a distance apart. The armour 20, 22, 24, 26 may be sloped at an angle to vertical or horizontal to increase the effectiveness of the armour. The armour may be composite armour, containing steel and ceramic materials. The armour may have a honeycomb structure, in particular using composite material. The armour may utilise "birdcaging", having mesh elements spaced from the main structure or adjacent armour. The armour 20, 22, 24, 26 may comprise explosive reactive armour, containing explosive materials. Indeed, the armour may take any suitable form.

The heaviest armour employed may be the front armour 24. The amphibian 10 is most likely to face the direction of enemy fire.

The armour 20, 22, 24, 26 is detachable from the amphibian 10. The armour 20, 22, 24, 26 is modular to allow each section to be individually removed and replaced. The side armour, front armour, rear armour and top armour may each comprise one or more modular sections. The detachable armour 20, 22, 24, 26 may be releasably attached to the amphibian 10 by means of clips or other attachment means.

The amphibian 10 may have a plurality of sets of armour, each set being of a different type for different situations. In particular, the sets may be of different weights and thicknesses suitable for protection against different ordnance. A heavy and thick set of armour will provide for good protection. Such heavy armour may restrict the speed at which the amphibian 10 can travel on water, and may limit or inhibit the ability of the amphibian 10 to plane. A lighter set of armour may provide a lower level of protection, and allow the amphibian to travel more quickly on water, and be able to plane at a faster speed or in rougher sea conditions.

In particular, four sets of armour may be provided for the amphibian:

1. Very heavy armour (VHA) . This armour would provide maximum protection, and would allow use of the amphibian on land only. The weight of this armour would prevent the amphibian being used on water.

2. Heavy armour (HA) provides good protection on land, and would allow wading of the amphibian in water. 3. Full armour (FA) provides reasonable protection for land use. The amphibian would be able to travel on water in a displacement mode, i.e. the amphibian would be buoyant.

4. Expeditionary armour (EA) provides minimal protection for land use. The amphibian would be able to plane at high speed on water. The different levels of detachable configurable armour would enable a single amphibian to be capable of high speed water and land travel, and also fulfil multiple missions and be a versatile inventory unit.

Figure 3 illustrates a possible design of the amphibian 10. The amphibian 10 is shown without armour. The amphibian 10 is planing on water 510.

When the amphibian 10 is on water, the tracked drives 12 may be retracted until they are above the water line of the amphibian 10. This allows the amphibian 10 to plane on water without interference or drag from the tracked drives 12. The armour 20, 22, 24, 26 is arranged to allow retraction of the tracked drives.

Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the side armour 20 located above the tracked drives 12. Alternatively, the side armour 20 may extend partially over the sides of the tracked drives 12, to offer partial protection to the tracked drives 12. The amphibian 10 may be provided with a larger or smaller number of armour modules than those illustrated. The armour modules may cover all or some of the amphibian 10. For example, the armour could be configured to protect the hull from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) when on land only patrol.

Although different embodiments of amphibian have been described, any one or more or all of the features described (and/or claimed in the appended claims) may be provided in isolation or in various combinations in any of the embodiments. As such, any one or more these features may be removed, substituted and/or added to any of the feature combinations described and/or claimed. For the avoidance of doubt, any of the features of any embodiment may be combined with any other feature from any of the embodiments.

Whilst preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above and illustrated in the drawings, these are by way of example only and non-limiting. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that many alternatives are possible within the ambit of the invention, as set out in the appended claims.

Claims

1. An amphibian for use on land and on water, the amphibian comprising: a main structure; land propulsion means; marine propulsion means; and configurable armour for selective attachment to and/or selective detachment from the main structure of the amphibian so as to provide at least two operational configurations, the at least two operational configurations comprising: a planing operational configuration enabling the amphibian to plane when used on water; and a displacement operational configuration enabling the amphibian to travel on water in a displacement mode.

2. An amphibian as claimed in claim 1 wherein the configurable armour provides at least three operational configurations, the third operational configuration comprising a wading operational configuration enabling the amphibian to wade when used on water.

3. An amphibian as claimed in claim 1 wherein the configurable armour provides at least three operational configurations, the third operational configuration comprising a land only operational configuration enabling the amphibian to travel on land only.

4. An amphibian as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the configurable armour provides at least four operational configurations, the fourth operational configuration comprising a land only operational configuration enabling the amphibian to travel on land only.

5. An amphibian for use on land and on water, the amphibian comprising: a main structure; land propulsion means; marine propulsion means; and configurable armour for selective attachment to and/or selective detachment from the main structure of the amphibian so as to provide at least two operational configurations, the at least two operational configurations comprising two or more of the following: a planing operational configuration enabling the amphibian to plane when used on water; a displacement operational configuration enabling the amphibian to travel on water in a displacement mode; a wading operational configuration enabling the amphibian to wade when used on water; or a land only operational configuration enabling the amphibian to travel on land only.

6. An amphibian according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the configurable armour can be replaced by attachable or detachable armour having different characteristics .

7. An amphibian according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the configurable armour can be replaced by attachable or detachable armour having different weights.

8. An amphibian according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the configurable armour is modular such that the configurable armour comprises a plurality of sections and each section can be attached and/or detached individually.

9. An amphibian according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the land propulsion means comprises at least two tracked drives.

10. An amphibian according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the land propulsion means is/are retractable for operation of the amphibian on water.

11. An amphibian according to any of the preceding claims wherein the amphibian can plane on water in at least one operational configuration.

12. A method of operating an amphibian comprising: providing an amphibian according to any one of the preceding claims; and attaching and/or detaching some or all of the configurable armour to and/or from the amphibian in dependence upon the at least two operational configurations desired.

13. An amphibian substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to or as shown in any one or more of the accompanying figures .

14. Use of an amphibian substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to or as shown in any one or more of the accompanying figures.