Firefighting systems in military vehicles

The article discusses the examples of fire causes in the military vehicles and the consequences they may cause in the military vehicles. It has been observed that the frequent cause for the damage of military vehicles and loss of crew health and life is not the direct impact with the missile, but fires caused e.g. by impact with a missile, mines and firing bottles actions. Therefore, there is the need to use firefighting systems in the military vehicles. The development of the firefighting systems earmarked for the military vehicles has been presented. The contemporary construction solutions for the firefighting system earmarked for the motor and combat departments, as well as selected external parts of the military vehicles as well as basic conditions influencing the firefighting systems of various purposed have been discussed. The advantages and disadvantages of halons used previously as basic extinguishing means, current legal restriction concerning the halon use as well as potential halon equivalents to extinguish fires in the military vehicles have been discussed. The new extinguishing equipment, the means of which will not have negative impact on the crew, vehicle and natural environment – in particular in terms of destroying ozone layer and causing greenhouse effect will require checking the correctness of their functioning, the extinguishing effectiveness and the impact on the natural environment. The testing of the firefighting systems for military vehicles has been already conduced in the Military Institute of Armoured and Automotive Technology in Sulejówek.