Buoyant armor applique system

Abstract

An armor appliqué system for supplementing the integrated armor of an amphibious vehicle without increasing the effective weight of the vehicle in water. A plurality of armored modules individually are affixed to the hull of an amphibious vehicle, each module having an armor element and a buoyant element sized to offset at least the weight of the armor element when the module is submerged in water. The modules can be arranged to align with the armor elements of neighboring modules and create a nearly continuous armor layer over a layer of buoyant elements and the hull. The modules can be provided in a plurality of different shapes and sizes such that the armor layer can be customized approximate to shape and size of the portion of the hull to prove protected.

1 . An armor appliqué system for supplementing the integrated armor of an amphibious vehicle without increasing the effective weight of the vehicle in water. 
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , including a plurality of armored modules individually affixable to a hull of the amphibious vehicle. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , including each respective module comprising an armor element, the armor element being a passive or active armor element, and a buoyant element sized to offset at least the weight of the armor element when the module is submerged in water. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , including the respective modules being individually affixable to the hull such that the respective modules can be individually replaced. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , including the respective individually affixable modules being arrangable end-to-end on the hull of the vehicle to create a substantially continuous armor layer over a layer of buoyant elements and the underlying hull portion. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , including each of the respective individually affixable modules being alignable with the armor elements of adjacent modules. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 4 , including the respective individually affixable modules being provided in a plurality of different shapes and sizes such that the armor layer can be customized to approximate the shape and size of a portion of the underlying hull portion to be protected. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 4 , including the respective individually affixable modules being arrangable on the hull to provide an armor layer having a shape and size independent of a certain contour of the underlying hull portion. 
     
     
         9 . An armored module, comprising an armor element, a buoyant element and a module casing having at least one engagement feature for securing the module to a hull of a vehicle. 
     
     
         10 . The armored module of  claim 9 , including the respective armor and buoyant elements being arrangable within the module casing such that the buoyant element is positioned between the armor element and the hull when the module is affixed to the vehicle. 
     
     
         11 . The armored module of  claim 10 , including the respective armor element being generally planar and orientable substantially parallel to the hull to shield the buoyant element and the hull from ballistic threats directed at the hull. 
     
     
         12 . The armored module of  claim 10 , each respective buoyant element having a hull side and an opposed exterior side and including the armor element being positionable on the exterior side of the respective buoyant elements for allowing for the use of active armor without the risk of damaging the buoyant element and thereby compromising the performance of the buoyant element. 
     
     
         13 . The armored module of  claim 10 , the buoyant element of each module being sized to provide a buoyancy force offsetting the weight of a corresponding armor element. 
     
     
         14 . The armored module of  claim 10 , the buoyant element of each module being sized to provide a buoyancy force greater than necessary to offset the weight of the armor element of a respective module. 
     
     
         15 . The armored module of  claim 10 , the buoyant element of a respective module being sized to provide a surplus buoyancy force wherein the surplus buoyancy force partially offsets the overall weight of the vehicle. 
     
     
         16 . The armored module of  claim 10 , the size of the buoyant element of a respective module being be selectable according to the intended mounting location on the hull of the respective module. 
     
     
         17 . The armored module of  claim 10 , the armor elements being generally planar and having horizontal and vertical edges such that positioning a plurality of armored modules end-to-end on the hull aligns the horizontal and/or vertical edges of the armor elements to create a nearly continuous armor layer. 
     
     
         18 . The armored module of  claim 17 , wherein such alignment acts to align the buoyant elements to create a nearly continuous buoyant layer between the armor layer and the hull. In this configuration. 
     
     
         19 . A method of supplementing an integrated armor structure of an amphibious vehicle, the amphibious vehicle having a hull exterior, includes:
 providing a plurality of armored modules that each have an armor element and a buoyant element and affixing the plurality of armored elements to the hull exterior.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further including positioning each of the armored modules on the hull such that the buoyant element is positioned between the armor element and the hull. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , further including positioning the modules end-to-end to align the armor elements and create a substantially continuous armor layer over a generally continuous buoyant layer and the underlying hull. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , further including independently detaching a first respective armored module from the hull and replacing the first respective armored module with a second respective armored module. 
     
     
         23 . An armored module for an amphibious vehicle as substantially described herein. 
     
     
         24 . A method of supplementing the integrated armor of an amphibious vehicle as substantially described herein.