Constellium N.V. was a recipient of the 2017 Defense Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) Achievement Award in the category of Enhancing Military Capability, for its contributions as part of the U.S. Army’s Affordable Protection from Objective Threats (APOT) ManTech program. This prestigious award recognizes individuals from government and the private sector whose ManTech projects result in system enhancements to improve military performance.
Dr. Bryan Cheeseman, Team Leader, Material Manufacturing and Technology Branch of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) nominated Constellium for its efforts in development and maturation of the industrial scale processing of aluminum armor plate for forming single piece combat vehicle hulls. A collaborative team consisting of BAE Systems Land & Armaments, ARL and Constellium developed, fabricated and demonstrated enhanced hull solutions applicable to tracked combat vehicles (Military Tanks).
The Constellium Defense team was tasked to come up with a large formed hull solution, increasing the underbelly protection for the warfighter. The hull plates, produced at Constellium’s plant in Ravenswood, West Virginia, were live fire tested with excellent results, which were utilized by U.S. Army experts to generate requirements for future Army combat vehicles. This technique offers the Army redesign flexibility not available with alternative solutions.
“The hull passed all objective threats and demonstrated capability allowing for the U.S. Military to increase the hull requirements for all tracked vehicles moving forward. This step up in threat level protection is expected to lead to decreased injuries and fatalities for our soldiers in the battlefield. Constellium is proud to be a part of this accomplishment,” said Ken Blake, Constellium’s Director Business Development Transportation and Industry.
