Research Institute of Steel: Armored panels for protection against drones

Main article: Defense against drones

2024: Technology Demonstration

On July 11, 2024, it became known that innovative armored panels were presented in Russia, designed to protect oil depots and gas storage facilities from attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The new development has successfully passed the first tests, demonstrating high efficiency in countering modern threats.

According to RIA Novosti, armored panels were developed at the Steel Research Institute, which is part of the Kalashnikov concern, which is part of the Rostec state corporation. The uniqueness of this product lies in its ability to provide reliable protection of critical infrastructure objects from attack UAV attacks.

source = Rostec

During the tests, the armored panel demonstrated high resistance to various types of effects. The sample withstood without a single penetration of bullets from cartridges of 9×19 mm 7N21 caliber, as well as fragments of a F-1 grenade blown up at a distance of just over half a meter.

The new development is made of a combination of various materials and provides protection of the Br3 class from bullets. The class of protection against fragments corresponds to the level of S-2, which means the ability to contain the striking elements of hand grenades RGD-5, RGN and RGO. At the same time, the weight per square meter of the product is less than 30 kilograms, which makes it relatively light for its protection class.

Representatives of Rostec stressed that armored panels were developed specifically to protect especially important facilities, such as oil storage facilities, gas storage facilities, ammunition depots and energy infrastructure facilities. Particular attention was paid to the development of FPV drone attacks, which have recently become an increasingly urgent threat to strategically important objects.

The presentation of the new armored panels was accompanied by a demonstration video showing the test results. The video materials clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of the protective properties of the new development.^[1]

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