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Iron Curtain is an Active Protection system (APS) that defeats all known
Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) threats with a clear growth path toward more challenging threats such as Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM).

How Iron Curtain Works

(1) A C-band radar detects and tracks an incoming round, alerting the system and switching it from armed-ready to an armed state. (2) At close range, a distributed optical sensor profiles and classifies the threat to select aimpoint and determine which countermeasure (CM) to fire. (3) The CM acts straight down, killing the threat with minimal collateral damage to personnel in close proximity.

Extensive Testing

Iron Curtain has been demonstrated to be effective in field testing on military platforms. In the series below, a live RPG is fired at an uparmored HMMWV equipped with Iron Curtain. The threat is tracked, profiled, classified and targeted. When the RPG is within inches, the countermeasure is deployed, instantly disabling it, deflagrating the warhead without detonating it. The duded RPG bounces off the vehicle side.

Iron Curtain Attributes

• Protects vehicle against all types of RPG
• Low collateral damage
• Highly resistant to countermeasure
• Multiple shots per side
• Low false alarm rate (FAR)
• Short minimum engagement range
• Lightweight and low power
• Low cost
• All solid state and modular for high reliability

The system is low weight, low cost and occupies minimal internal footprint. The countermeasure acts very close to the vehicle resulting in low collateral damage. Using independent sensors – optical and radar – yields a minimal false alarm rate.

Iron Curtain’s ability to profile
and classify targets, along with its array of countermeasures, enables
it to efficiently address new and emerging threats, usually with
nothing more than a software
change. With the rapid introduction
of new threats, such as the RPG-29 and RPG-32, this flexibility prevents iron Curtain from becoming obsolete.

System Integration

Iron Curtain can be configured to protect almost any surface, from just the sides of a vehicle to all-around protection, including top. Iron Curtain has been tested on an uparmored HMMWV, and is currently being integrated onto an LAV and MRAP variant. It is undergoing ATEC acceptance testing sponsored by DARPA with PM MRAP serving as the user representative. Iron curtain provides more protection than conventional approaches – such as bar armor – and is easier to integrate. It is affordable and will be fully approved and ready for production by the end of calendar year 2009.