The 209 LYNX IFVs ordered by Hungary will be protected against the threat of modern anti-tank weapons by Rheinmetall’s StrikeShield hard-kill Active Protection System (APS), the company said in a press release announcing the €140M contract today. StrikeShield is the third and latest generation of Rheinmetall’s Active Defence System (ADS) technology, with passive and active protection coordinated in this special variant. The ADS is a distributed system, with sensors and countermeasures integrated into the contour and architecture of the entire vehicle with low emissions in the electromagnetic spectrum, as well as fast, safe and reliable reaction speed in ambush or multi-hit scenarios as characteristic features. It protects the vehicle from shaped charge warhead threats such as rockets or missiles by neutralising incoming projectiles before they hit the platform.
The StrikeShield APS is mechanically integrated directly into hybrid protection tiles of the LYNX. Instead of conventional, passive add-on armour modules, the platform will feature spaced passive armour tiles that incorporate the components of the APS between an outer ply and inner tiles mounted on the vehicle’s hull. ADS technology has been part of Rheinmetall’s technology portfolio since 2006. StrikeShield is developed, produced and supplied by Rheinmetall Protection Systems GmbH, which was founded in 2019 as a Centre of Excellence for protection technologies. The core of the product strategy is the hybridisation of protection solutions, which enable better, lighter and cheaper protection solutions for armoured vehicles.
Gerhard Heiming
