Adelphi, Md.: The Army Research Laboratory played a major role in the development of a shield to protect the Abrams tank's exhaust system against enemy threats during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The lab was contacted after reports of Iraqi troops zeroing in on the exhaust system in an attempt to put the Abrams out of commission. In addition, several Marine Corps vehicles also showed similar vulnerabilities against these threats, said Mike Zoltoski, the survivability technology coordinator in the Weapons and Materials Research Directorate.
The lab worked with the Program Manager for Abrams, General Dynamics Land Systems, Aberdeen Test Center, Army Evaluation Center and the National Ground Intelligence Center from the initial phase of design to the completion of the evaluation. "It was a team effort," said Zoltoski. "The whole process from design to test and evaluation only took about four days, and the results proved the shield offered valuable protection."
Critical to the effort was the Aberdeen Test Center, which constructed and evaluated the prototype shield against actual threat munitions and determined that the addition of the shield did not degrade the automotive performance of the Abrams. Similar shields also were developed for the Marine Corps' vehicles.
General Dynamics Land Systems built 20 shields at the Lima Army Tank Plant, Lima, OH, which were delivered to Iraq within a week of first receiving the call for help. President George W. Bush specifically thanked workers at the plant for their role in the development of this item during his recent visit.
The Army lab has a long history of transitioning armor technologies from the laboratory to the field. The group of scientists, engineers and technicians that helped design the shield were also responsible for the armor designs used on the Abrams and reactive armor for the Marine Corp M60s, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Stryker. Currently, they are working on lightweight advanced armors for the Future Combat Systems, including structural armor to protect against small arms projectiles. 
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