Experimental Setup to Assess Blast and Penetration-Induced Secondary Debris in a Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) Environment

Testing demonstrates effects of blast debris on personnel protective equipment.

Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland

As part of Project Agreement on Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT), the US Army Research Laboratory's (ARL's) Explosives Effects Branch supported a series of experiments conducted in Meppen, Germany (DEU), to understand loading on personnel protective equipment (PPE) produced during urban weapon attacks. These experiments were conducted by detonating an explosive charge placed on a brick wall to create secondary debris that would impact the US-designed collection medium.

The experimental area consisted of 3 separate rooms (Figure 1). The first room was used as the blast room. The second and third rooms contained the collection medium. A double thick brick wall separated rooms 1 and 2 and was used to create the secondary debris.