Blast test
Global technology and aerospace business Paramount Group’s Mbombe 4 x 4, the newest addition to its advanced armoured personnel carrier family of vehicles, has received final certification for the independently verified blast tests which exceeded the criteria for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) Standardisation Agreement (STANAG) 4569 – one of the highest levels of protection that can be achieved by an armoured vehicle in its class.
This announcement follows the performance of the Mbombe 4 x 4, which features flat-floor mine protection technologies pioneered by Paramount Group, during a series of explosives tests designed and executed by Landward Sciences, a programme of South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
The blast tests included three 10 kg trinitrotoluene, or TNT, explosions under the wheels and the hull, and one 50 kg side blast test, carried out at a 5 m distance to imitate an improvised explosive device.
The Mbombe 4 was designed and developed specifically for local manufacturing in customer countries, in response to the increasing requirement from governments for the development of their own defence industrial capabilities.
The vehicle has successfully completed a series of summer trials with several armed forces around the world.
Though the Mbombe 4 is equipped for full mission capability and maximum versatility, it has a singular mission – soldier survivability.
As part of the blast testing programme, the integrity of the Mbombe 4 was subjected to both intense experimentations and post-test evaluations that took several months to complete.
The inspections confirmed no evidence of hull ruptures, or injurious internally formed secondary fragments (for example, secondary shrapnel) nor loose equipment in the occupant compartment, and that anthropomorphic test devices and the seats in which they were placed remained in position and uncompromised.
Each of these tests is intended to validate explosives resistance and occupant protection capacities for logistics and light-armoured vehicles by pushing unmodified units to their functional limits, using expertly controlled trials and post-test evaluations.
The Mbombe 4 also includes a rear-door ramp design, which has been proven in combat on 6 x 6 and 8 x 8 infantry fighting vehicles. The ease of access provided by the rear-door ensures the rapid deployment of the crew while the vehicle is static or on the move.
The Mbombe 4 performs with a burst speed of 140 km/h, an 800 km operating range and an independent suspension system designed to optimally meet the increasing demand for outstanding protection yet adaptability in conventional and asymmetrical warfare alike.
The mine resistant carrier is functionally versatile over challenging terrains and fully operational across myriad of contemporary and diverse counter-terrorism, border patrol, counter-insurgency, internal security and peacekeeping missions.
The Mbombe 4 was launched during the 2019 International Defence Exhibition and Conference in Abu Dhabi, at which time Paramount Group announced that the United Arab Emirates was also the first customer to buy these vehicles.