Delta Scientific, the leading manufacturer of counter-terrorist vehicle control systems used in the United States and internationally, recently announced the successful full scale crash test and product release of Delta’s 20-foot (6.1 m) MP5000 portable vehicle barricade system. The MP5000 is a towable, rapid deployment vehicle barricade developed for locations that have large vehicle traffic. The full scale crash test was conducted by an independent test lab following ASTM test criteria for an M40 level test. That is a 15,000 pound (66.7 KM) flatbed truck impacting at 40 miles per hour (64 kilometres per hour). With the successful test result, the new longer version of the MP5000 is cleared for production.
“The successful crash test of the 20-foot MP5000 will have a significant impact on the portable barrier market,” reports Greg Hamm, Delta Scientific vice president of sales and marketing. “We have worked extensively with the military to develop a rapid deploying portable barrier that allows all variations of vehicles to pass through check points without incident. Quick deployment, simplicity of use, and a large clear opening with an ASTM crash rating were all key factors in this development.”
The new 20-foot MP5000 was created because U.S. Army REF (Rapid Equipping Force), based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, had a requirement for a portable 20-foot barrier at checkpoints in Afghanistan. Due to the size of vehicles in their theatre, they wanted a unit with a clear opening larger than the standard 16-foot version.
The mission of the Rapid Equipping Force (REF) is to equip operational commanders with commercial-off-the-shelf and government-off-the-shelf solutions to increase effectiveness and reduce risk, insert future force technologies and surrogates to validate concepts and speed capabilities to the Soldiers and assess Army business practices, desired capabilities, and acquisition techniques to effect institutional Army change. The REF serves as a solutions catalyst, canvassing the military, industry, academia and the science community for existing and emerging technologies.
The MP500 is one of Delta’s most popular vehicle barricades. It is now available in 12- (3.66 m), 16 – (4.88 m) and the new 20-foot clear openings. It is popular because it can be towed to where vehicle security is needed and sets up in less than fifteen minutes. It is self-contained and battery powered. In addition to forward operating bases in Afghanistan, it can also be seen at G20 meetings to protect life and property on city streets. Over 1,000 units have been sold.
