The Modular Protective System - Overhead Cover (OHC) is a military product designed to provide protection for high value assets in a combat zone such as command posts (300 soldiers or less) from small arms, mortars, and rockets. The design of the OHC allows it to be the only military product that provides ballistic protection, can be relocated, and disassembled by soldiers without heavy equipment or special tools. The MPS-OHC was recently awarded the Army Research and Development Award in 2012--Outstanding Technical Achievement for the Modular Protective System. The OHC is a multi-year military R&D project. The original design covered a 20 foot span and was deployed in Afghanistan for initial testing. 

The current OHC configurations are supported by modular protective system walls as seen in the pictures. Future development will extend the OHC design for installation on existing wall structures or unprotected buildings. The newest phase of the project is the development of the 50L OHC. The OHC is designed to be relocated as needed. This requires the OHC to be assembled and disassembled repeatedly over a period of many years with minimal maintenance.

The initial consideration for a preserving coating was to use a desert tan paint system as many other military vehicles and structures currently employ. After further review and testing, the military chose hot-dip galvanizing as their corrosion protection system. Galvanizing proved to be the best design choice to provide the durability required to withstand any environment and relocation. A hot-dip galvanized modular beam system is used to support the desert tan armor panels that provide the ballistic protection.

The OHC is composed of many small parts to facilitate transportation to combat zones and setup by soldiers with no special equipment. These parts include many tubes in which a painted system could not provide full interior and exterior protection, as well as some parts containing unpaintable crevasses. The superior corrosion protection of galvanizing will provide full coverage of the parts to ensure long lasting corrosion performance and no failure of the structure.

All parts of the OHC will also experience frequent handling by military personnel resulting in scrapes and scratches. If a paint system had been used, these scratches and scrapes would have had to be repaired immediately, and on a consistent basis to keep any corrosion of the structure from taking place. The metallurgical bond and four layers of coating protection of galvanizing allow the product to take the wear and tear and extreme conditions that the military requires. The sacrificial properties of zinc also will allow small scrapes and scratches to be healed over time providing continuous protection. The initial OHC was extensively tested to prove the performance objectives, and the hot-dip galvanized structure surpassed all performance goals for maintaining structural integrity.