Thales Australia and the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) are boosting soldier safety with a contract to supply over 35,000 Bullet Trap Blank Firing Attachments (BTBFAs) for Austeyr F88 rifles.
The innovative, patented BTBFA technology was created by Thales Australia’s specialist weapons technicians and engineers, and the units will be manufactured at the Australian Soldier Systems Development and Support Centre in Lithgow, NSW.
The BTBFA is attached to the end of the rifle barrel and enables the weapon to function when firing blank ammunition.
If a live round is inadvertently fired, the bullet is retained within the BTBFA, preventing injury to bystanders or the soldier firing the weapon.
“Soldier safety is of paramount importance in training as well as on operations,” Chris Jenkins, Thales Australia’s CEO, said.
BTBFAs will be used on training ranges and are coloured red, enabling easy identification of their use during exercises.
They require no modifications to existing weapons and can be maintained for most purposes in the field by the operator, utilising existing equipment.
The units are about half the weight of the current in-service bayonet and are optimised for the new Thales F3A1 blank round.
Thales Australia has also designed BTBFAs for use with other in-service weapons.