Hesco Weldmesh Concertainer/Bastions

Concertainer® units from HESCO are acknowledged as the most significant development in field fortifications since WWII. They have been a key component in providing force protection since the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Typical applications include perimeter security and defence walls, equipment revetments, ammunition compounds, personnel and material bunkers, observation points, defensive firing positions, guard posts, explosives and contraband search areas, highway checkpoints, border crossing checkpoints, and protecting existing structures.

Structures built from Concertainer units have been subjected to testing with charges up to 20,000lb. Correctly configured, a wall made from Concertainer units will mitigate the effects of truck bomb attack. They have also been tested and proven against small arms fire and RPG, and are used extensively in the protection of personnel, vehicles, equipment and facilities in military, peacekeeping, humanitarian and civilian operations.

Concertainer units are a prefabricated, multi-cellular defence wall system, made of galvanised steel Weldmesh and lined with non-woven polypropylene geotextile. The product's primary advantage over other force protection systems is their ability to utilise locally available fill material to rapidly construct defence walls and other structures with minimal manpower and resources. Units can be extended and joined together easily and rapidly to provide effective and economical structures tailored to the specific threat and level of protection required.

It is possible to design and construct walls that give complete protection from small arms, cannon, RPG, mortars and shrapnel and fragmentation from larger types of shells or bombs using Concertainer units. It is not possible to build a structure to totally protect against the effects of blast from larger explosive devices. However, the construction of a competent defence wall may substantially reduce the blast effects.

The two main aims in constructing defence walls must be to put distance between the target and the potential site of charge initiation, and to inhibit damage to equipment and personnel from secondary fragmentation. Concertainer structures provide protection against these effects of weapons attack by enhancing the mass and characteristics of the fill material.

Several specialised off-the-shelf products based on the patented design of Concertainer units are also available, providing rapidly deployable protective structures for specific requirements:

The guard post / sangar establishes a small (four-foot by six-foot) firing or observation point with two-foot thick walls, based on the Concertainer® system. Provided as a complete set, the guard post / sangar is delivered on a single 826lb (375kg) pallet with detailed assembly instructions.

Bunker sets can be established as stand-alone systems or based around 20ft or 40ft ISO containers. ISO containers provide enhanced protection and, if properly ventilated, can provide environmental protection. Material bunkers provide access from one end of the bunker, while personnel bunkers have access at both ends.

The bunker walls are constructed using Concertainer units, providing a wall thickness of 3ft 6in with two-foot of overhead cover. Detailed assembly instructions are provided with the kits. ISO containers are not supplied with the bunker kit, but are available with the containerised bunker kits.

The containerised bunker kits provide all the components for the bunker kit in an easily transportable ISO container. The ISO container can then be used within the bunker. To facilitate this the bunker container has a prefabricated personnel door and rear escape hatch. The ISO container has a fully opening side, ensuring the bunker kit is rapidly deployable.