HERNDON, Va.— Iron Curtain will be the first active protection system to demonstrate the ability to interface with multiple radars as part of the Army’s Modular Active Protection System (MAPS) program, and will be one of the first to emulate a hard-kill live-fire event.

Keith Brendley, CEO of Artis, said Iron Curtain will demonstrate in March 2018 its ability to interface with the Army’s Modular APS Controller (MAC) and emulate a live-fire event.  In addition, he said Iron Curtain will be the first APS to demonstrate interoperability as prescribed in the Modular APS Framework (MAF) with multiple sensors.  “By this summer, we expect to demonstrate the ability to interface two different radars using the MAPS controller,” he said.

The effort is supported by the Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC), with funding through the MAPS program, he said.

“Iron Curtain was designed from its earliest stages to be highly modular, and has already successfully integrated two different radars: the Rada CHR radar and the L-3 CROSSHAIRS radar. Taking the next step and demonstrating modularity with multiple MAF-compliant versions of these sensors will enable these types of integration efforts to happen even more rapidly in the future” he said.

The MAPS program is managed by the Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) in Warren, Michigan and is partnered with the following Research Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) labs: ARDEC in Picatinny, New Jersey, CERDEC and ARL in Aberdeen Proving Grounds and AMRDEC in Huntsville, Alabama. The program is running concurrent with efforts to field mature APSs through an Army non-developmental item program being managed by the Army’s Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems.

Iron Curtain defeats shoulder-launched missiles, and features minimal collateral damage risk to dismounted troops and civilians.  “Iron Curtain is the safest system on the market, and offers the Army a highly modular system that is ready to deploy and save lives today,” said Brendley.