SubscribeHESCO Bastion Concertainer® units have proved to be an effective force protection system over the last decade. From Bosnia, to Kosovo, to Afghanistan, to Iraq, troops, facilities, and equipment from many nations have been protected from many threats by structures built using Concertainer® units.
To a great extent, protection has been provided by simple walls and revetments. These have proved useful for perimeter walls against direct-fire, fragments and blast from vehicle borne improvised explosive devices and others.
They have also been used as revetments within fortified areas compartmentalizing high-value target areas to minimize damage from indirect fires. This technique has been extensively used in accommodation areas, helicopter and aircraft operating areas and ammunition storage areas.
Certain high-value facilities demand the addition of overhead cover to provide protection against indirect fires such as mortars and rockets commonly found in counter-insurgency operations and heavier munitions such as artillery. Achieving overhead protection using Concertainer units requires sufficient thickness of earth appropriate to the threat and a structure to support the required overhead protection.
Current military survivability doctrine provides guidance for the structural design of fortifications, giving guidance in such matters as roof design and other requirements. Concertainer units are readily adaptable to these designs and many structures have been created using this approach.
HESCO Bastion has available several pre-configured sets, which provide the material required to construct either a Sangar/Guardpost or larger bunkers incorporating ISO containers. In final development is a bunker termed EOPS (Extended Overhead Protection System), which provides protection for triple-wide container systems, or using a standard container, a protected environment of approximately twenty-five feet wide.
“Sangar” originally referred to a stone breastwork, used by the British army on the northwest frontier of India where it was generally impossible to dig protective trenches. Above-ground structures were created by using readily available rock. HESCO Bastion limited has designed and configured a set of materials to create an above-ground protected post using Concertainer units and engineered structural components to create a protected position with two-foot (0.6 m) thick walls and eighteen inches (0.45 m) of overhead protection.
The interior is four-feet (1.2 m) wide by six-feet (1.96 m) long, with an interior clearance of six-feet, six inches (2 m). In addition to the Concertainer® units and structural components, three observation/firing port embrasure forms are provided. These provide maximum traverse of fire or observation, while minimizing the physical opening.
The sangar/guardpost is available in two colors; sand (NSN 5680-99-160-6230) and green (NSN 5680-99-362-1580). The set is delivered on a single timber skid, providing all the components needed for construction; Concertainer units for the walls and parapet, timber roof joists, battens, roof membrane, corrugated iron roof panels, lintel plate, and embrasure forms.
A typical construction team is four, plus an earthmover and operator. If necessary a ground team of two would suffice. Most commonly available earthmovers such as Bobcat-type, agricultural tractor with a front-end loader, Small Emplacement Excavator (SEE), for example, could be used.
Fill material requirements are the same as those for other Concertainer structures, with a sand/gravel mix being ideal. The total requirement for fill is approximately 13 cubic meters (17 cubic yards) or about 20 tonnes (25 tons). Instructions for completion are included with each set.
Construction begins with preparation. The operational requirement will generally dictate the siting. Preparation includes leveling and stripping of organic material as a minimum. For longer-term use a foundation of selected granular material would be advantageous.
The first tier of Concertainer units are laid out and then the roof joists are inserted into the coils of the units to maintain the correct dimensions and shape while the first units are being filled. The first layer is then filled ensuring uniform distribution and compaction of the fill to within approximately three inches (75 mm) of the top of the units.
The roof joists are removed and the units of the second layer are placed and secured using the provided clips ensuring that the embrasure openings are correctly situated. The roof joists are then placed by inserting the pins in the appropriate opposite coils. The embrasure forms are then inserted in the openings and bolted together. The second layer is then filled and compacted. Special care should be taken to ensure fill is distributed under the embrasures.
Once the walls are filled, compacted and leveled, the side support battens are nailed to the ends of the roof joists, ensuring that they are flush with the roof joints. The corrugated steel sheets are then placed over the roof joists, starting with two in the middle and finishing with one in each corner.
The edges are aligned flush with the roof joists and the sheets are nailed down. The lintel plate is then placed over the door opening and the entire roof is covered with the roof membrane. The smaller (18”) roof parapet units are then placed, to sit up to the side of the battens, filled and compacted. The remainder of the roof is then filled and leveled.
This sangar/guardpost unit provides protection against small arms fire, splinters, shrapnel, etc. While it is not necessarily intended to be a fighting position, it will provide protection to troops at vehicle check points, perimeter security, and other similar locations. It can be constructed quickly with a minimum of resources providing effective and economical protection.
