Old Windshields Offer New Protection

MILTECH

Staff Sgts. Alan Baker and Phillip Lavor and Tech. Sgt. Jonathon LeMaster hang a used Humvee windshield March 15 at Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq. The windshields are being re-used as added protection for the new security forces towers being built for the base perimeters. The airmen are assigned to the 506th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron structures team. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Bradley Lail

by Senior Airman Bradley Lail
506th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq (AFNS) Apr 04, 2007
The 506th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron structures department team put their heads together to come up with a better way to protect the airmen who guard the base.

By placing 3-inch thick, 260-pound safety glass with a titanium frame in the windows of the newly designed guard towers, the structures team is trying to ensure that those who are protecting the base are protected in return.

"Because of the level of importance and the high degree of difficulty, the tower window project is one of our most rewarding tasks," said Senior Master Sgt. Clarence Super, the 506th structures superintendent.

After ballistic windshields have been slightly penetrated during combat operations outside the wire, they are considered unserviceable for street patrols in Iraq. Although the windshields are not serviceable for convoy standards, the structures team found them to be a serviceable means of protection for servicemembers currently protected by plexiglass.

Not only is the structures team potentially saving lives, they are also saving the military around $37,500 by recycling the windshields, Super said.

Staff Sgt. Alan Baker, a civil engineer structures technician, designed a way to combine two damaged ballistic Humvee windshields so they would be sturdy enough to be mounted in the window openings of the new towers. The new towers are concrete structures designed to withstand blasts from possible mortar attacks as well as rocket and small-arms fire.

Arch welders then welded together the windshields and custom-fabricated a frame with plates and brackets to bolt to the tower.

Once the windshields were hoisted and properly placed in each of the new towers, structures technician Staff Sgt. Phillip Lavor came up with a way to seal off the openings on the sides of the windshields.

Plexiglas was used on each side to enclose the openings and wood gave the windows more support. Having to fasten four separate types of material together (wood, metal, concrete and Plexiglas) was a complicated procedure. The plexiglas had to be affixed with hinges to maintain climate control when closed while allowing tower personnel to open and fire through it as necessary.

"The ECES team is doing a great job," said Maj. Tamara Mayer, 506th ESFS commander. She said the windshield provides an increased amount of protection and also recycles something that would have been tossed.

Email This Article

MILTECH

LockMart And Gibbs Tech Develop High Speed Amphibious Military Vehicles

Washington DC (SPX) Apr 04, 2007
Lockheed Martin and Gibbs Technologies have agreed to develop a family of high speed amphibious vehicles designed specifically for military operations.

SUPERPOWERS US Military Chief Given Unprecedented Access In China Indian Plans Naval Wargames With China, Japan, Russia, US EU Dreams Of Common Army Chairman Observes Chinese Land Combat Exercise	NUKEWARS Captive Sailors Latest Chapter In Tormented British-Iran Ties US Navy Steps Up Vigilance After Britain-Iran Standoff Japan Calls For China Help In North Korea Banking Row Looking For Trust In Tehran
MISSILE NEWS India Says Air-To-Air Missile Tested And BrahMos To Be Deployed System Monitors Health Of New Composite Military Missiles Pakistan Test Fires Nuclear-Capable Cruise Missile Boeing JDAM Scores Direct Hit In Extended Range Tests	MISSILE DEFENSE Japan Deploys Its Own Patriots US To Pursue Missile Shield With Or Without Moscow's Nod GBIs Unaffected By June Rains EU Foreign Ministers Await NATO-Russia Talks On Missile Shield
AEROSPACE Nondestructive Testing Keeps Bagram Aircraft Flying NASA Seeks New Research Proposals Germans Urged To Give Foreign Travel A Rest To Curb Global Warming Raytheon Team Proposes Single International Standard In ADS-B Pursuit	UAV NEWS Insitu Selects RTI For Unmanned Air-Vehicle Products Northrop Grumman Provides 24/7 Service To Navy Unmanned Systems Customers Northrop Grumman Gets 287 Million Dollar Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Systems Contract Boeing Prepares First US Military ScanEagle Crews
IRAQ WARS An Iraqi Plan To Oust Militias Moqtada al-Sadr's Long Game Flickers Of Hope In Iraq US Wounded Rates Rise In Iraq	MILTECH LockMart And Gibbs Tech Develop High Speed Amphibious Military Vehicles Old Windshields Offer New Protection Fort Lewis Soldiers Offer Feedback On New Vehicles KC-X Players Set For Opening Day

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement