CERAWA-1
Since the ERAWA-1 and ERAWA-2 explosive reactive armor cannot be used to protect light armored vehicles due to their weight, an alternative had to be found, especially due to the fact that the BWP-1 and BWP infantry fighting vehicles used in the Polish Armed Forces -2 have an insufficient level of armor protection.
WITU developed a new solution in the form of a passive-reactive shield, which was named CERAWA-1. The explosive used in this solution was to be identical to that in the ERAWA shields, but it was covered not with a steel plate, but with a layer of ceramics. This made the cassette lighter.
The dimensions of CERAWA-1 cassettes are 306x156x44 mm. The weight of the module with the mounting frame is 12.5 kg. CERAWA-1 is primarily intended to provide a high level of protection against 12.7 mm and 14.5 mm armor-piercing ammunition and PG-7 HEAT grenades, capable of penetrating approximately 260-300 mm of homogeneous rolled steel armour.
In addition, the CERAWA-1 is to make the vehicle immune to 23 mm armor-piercing rounds with a penetration capacity of approximately 30 mm of homogeneous steel armor, and against EFP charges that would penetrate 100 mm of armor.
CERAWA-1 was presented for the first time during MSPO 1995 on a modernized BWP-1 marked as BWP-95. There are a total of 72 CERAWA-1 modules with a total weight of about 900 kg on the vehicle.
CERAWA-1 was a prospective solution with high development potential as a cover for various types of lighter vehicles. This concerned not only the BWP-1, but also the Rosomak wheeled armored personnel carriers or self-propelled howitzers.
A development of CERAWA-1 in the form of CERAWA-2 and CERAWA-3 shields was also developed. The CERAWA-2 is designed to make the vehicle immune to penetration by 25 mm armor-piercing rounds, while the ability to protect against HEAT warheads and EFP charges is identical to the CERAWA-1 shield.
The CERAWA-3 is to provide protection against 30 mm caliber armor-piercing ammunition with a penetration of approximately 50 mm of steel armor, as well as the same resistance to HEAT warheads and EFP charges as CERAWA-1 and CERAWA-2.
CAWA-1
A family of composite passive armor based on ballistic ceramics has also been developed in Poland. The first such solution is CAWA-1. The purpose of this cover was to provide the appropriate level of resistance to lightly armored vehicles.
The CAWA-1 was to provide protection against 14.5 mm armor-piercing rounds at a distance of about 100-200 m and to protect the vehicle against incendiary agents. It is also possible to combine the CAWA-1 shield with other solutions, e.g. ERAWA-1 and 2. The designers have optimized the armor to facilitate serial production.
A variant designated as CAWA-1NA was also developed, which was to act as additional armor for objects without protection, e.g. containers adapted for outposts, buildings, civilian vehicles and helicopters. The CAWA-1NA protects against 7.62 mm and 12.7 mm armor-piercing rounds.
CAWA-2
The next stage of work was the development of composite armor based on ballistic ceramics. This time, the new design was intended for armoring MBTs and other heavily armored combat vehicles.
CAWA-2 is based on several planes of ballistic ceramics, which are placed between at least two layers of homogeneous armor steel. It was planned to use this system in the PT-97 tank, which was a further evolution of the PT-91. The successor of Twardy was to receive a new turret made of rolled armor plates.
Although the PT-97 was never built, prototypes of the CAWA-2 armor were tested in a configuration very similar to the frontal armor of the T-72M1 tank. The spatial arrangement of the trial solution consisted of: outer plates made of armor steel with a thickness of 60 mm, inner plates made of armor steel with a thickness of 50 mm, and six layers of ballistic ceramics with a total thickness of 120 mm between them. The thickness of the complete system was therefore 230 mm.
During testing, it was set at an angle of about 60 degrees. This means that the effective thickness of such a system is 460 mm. It should be remembered that this setting was adopted due to the desire to increase the credibility of the research. In tanks of the T-72 family, the front armor is sloped at an angle of 68 degrees, which would give an effective thickness of about 613 mm.
The CAWA-2 armor was required, among other things, to protect against APFSDS armor-piercing tank ammunition with the ability to penetrate about 550 mm of homogeneous rolled steel armor. For the times when the CAWA-2 armor was being developed, achieving such parameters would put it at the forefront of the world.
Three configurations of the CAWA-2 armor were tested, most likely using Israeli 125 mm APFSDS M711 ammunition, known in Poland as Ryś. Its perforation capacity oscillates around 550 mm of homogeneous rolled steel armour.
In the case of model no. 1 the depth of the crater in the steel plate protected by the CAWA-2 armor was about 125 mm. In variant no. 2 it was 15 mm, and in variant no. 3 30mm. However, keep in mind that models were tested that may not necessarily reflect the final product. There is no doubt that in a consistently implemented, long-term research and development project, the cover would see further evolutions.
The CAWA-2 armor proved to have great potential. Placing it in much larger composite armor chambers, such as Western MBTs, where the total thickness of the system is often between 400mm and 1000mm (depending on the location), could achieve far better results in terms of ballistic protection, for a level close to the world's best constructions.
Today, there is also a large development potential for domestic armor for main battle tanks and vehicles with a similar level of protection. On the basis of the knowledge gained in the work on the CAWA-2 shield, it is possible to start research on a more modern, more effective solution.
CAWA-3 and CAWA-4
As part of the research and development project "Passive protection of mobile objects (air and land) against the impact of AP missiles", implemented in 2010-2012 by the scientific and industrial consortium PANCERMET composed of: Motor Transport Institute, Military University of Technology, Aviation Institute, Foundry Research Institute , Warsaw University of Technology, Air Force Institute of Technology, Military Institute of Armament Technology, Institute of Fundamental Technological Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences, AMZ-KUTNO Sp. z o. o. and AUTOSAN SA, three more passive shields based on ballistic ceramics were developed. They were designated as CAWA-3, CAWA-3+ and CAWA-4.
CAWA-3 is to provide level III protection according to the STANAG 4569 standard, i.e. against 7.62 mm armor-piercing ammunition. The CAWA-3+, on the other hand, is to protect at level III+ under the same standard, i.e. against 12.7 mm AP rounds. The most effective CAWA-4 reaches Tier IV, so it will protect the vehicle against 14.5mm AP rounds.
The CAWA-3 and CAWA-4 armours are characterized by a modular design, allowing for quick assembly or disassembly on various types of platforms: from light land vehicles, through containers, to more unusual applications, such as ballistic protection for helicopters. It can be said that the CAWA-3 and CAWA-4 armors are the direct successors of the CAWA-1 and CAWA-1NA shields.
IMMA Integrated Multi-Purpose Modular Armour
Lubawa SA has developed its own patent in the form of the Integrated Multispectral Modular Armour, code-named IMMA (Integrated Multispectral Modular Armor). The main element of this solution are the panels, which consist of two elements.
The lower part of the composite consists of a ballistic shield that protects against projectiles and shrapnel generated during the explosion. The top layer, on the other hand, is camouflage, reducing the thermal spectrum by about 85%. It also provides two-way radar attenuation up to 20 dB, as well as effective masking in visible light and night vision. Publicly available information shows that IMMA components can provide protection up to level IV according to STANAG 4569.
The Lubawa Group also offers other solutions, including light modular armor developed within the framework of the National Center for Research and Development (the project was implemented in 2013-2017, led by the Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals) and protection systems for optoelectronic modules, also providing protection up to level IV according to STANAG 4569. It is worth noting that Lubawa's additional armor elements, integrated with mobile camouflage, found an export customer - Finland, which implemented them on modernized BMP-2s.
Summary
As you can see, Polish science has great achievements in the field of developing ballistic shields for various applications. This is a huge potential, which, unfortunately, often remains untapped in the domestic industry and the Armed Forces.
However, it should be remembered that the acquired knowledge does not have to be in vain. It can be used for further work, although the assumption should be to strive to implement native solutions.
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