Blast Seat
Blast Mitigating Seat Technology
Increased soldier safety; reduced soldier fatigue; and improved combat readiness. These are the critical benefits QinetiQ North America’s BlastRide™ seats provide that protect against the effects of mine and improvised explosive device blasts. Our blast mitigation design and active damping system showcase our ability to develop sophisticated technology and take it from the lab to the battlefield. Our focus on research and development continues to produce land systems and survivability solutions that meet our customers’ most pressing mission needs.
Warfighter safety remains a top priority for military organizations but new studies indicate that reducing physical stress is a critical factor in combat readiness and effectiveness. QinetiQ North America’s BlastRide seats address both issues: safety and comfort.
BlastRide features an active damping system that reduces the load on an occupant’s spine and pelvis from a g-force of 350 grams to fewer than 20 grams, providing shock protection from a blast and mitigating jolts and vibrations over rough terrain. The ActiveShock algorithm computes and compares the forces on the seat every millisecond and seamlessly provides a comprehensive set of rules to isolate the effects. The result is shock absorption during a blast and throughout all secondary impacts and orders of magnitude improvement in the rider experience.
The BlastRide design is practical and developed for rugged field use. The seats are capable of reducing loads on occupants resulting from close proximity blasts (10 kg TNT, STANAG Level 4) and are fitted with QinetiQ North America’s LAST Armor, a patent-pending spall liner reinforced with DuPont™ Kevlar®, to mitigate the threat of high-velocity fragments. One single platform offers configurations for drivers, commanders and troops – even those wearing full combat gear or specialized equipment. Seats feature quick-release four-point harnesses, flexible mounting options and they weigh just 50 pounds. They also fold when not in use for easy in-and-out and storage.
Expertise in Action
“This is a great example of QinetiQ-NA’s ability to quickly respond to customer concerns,” said Technology Solutions Group President, JD Crouch. “The typical blast seat doesn’t have this kind of capability, but as part of the continual effort to improve our products, we identified the need and quickly brought new technology to market within six months.”