Defence & Security

Flexible, lightweight, strong and fully customisable bladders are manufactured for use in defence & security vehicles and equipment.

Our flexible bladder technology can be used to create bladders of any size and shape and to suit any fuel. These bladders can be used as a main tank, or fitted into a previously unused space to create a range extension tank.

Such is the versatility of our bladder technology, they can be used for any number of applications. These can include tracked, 6x6, 4x4 or other vehicles, other less traditional forms of transportation, or to fuel weapons systems such as missiles and torpedoes. There are very few limitations to what we can achieve, and we relish the opportunity to develop our technology further to hold any type of fluid in any application.

With over 100 proprietary materials in use today, and the opportunity to completely customise shape and hardware/accessories, a solution really can be achieved for any application.

ATL bladder technology has been developed across many decades in motorsport, where typically technology is pushed to its limits and follows a rapid development path. Thanks to superior materials, hardware and know-how, ATL are the world leaders for motorsport applications, and have been the sole supplier to Formula 1 for over 25 years thanks to the competitive advantage that our product provides.

We are pleased to assist with small, prototype projects, and have the scale to manufacture hundreds of fuel bladders annually for projects requiring such levels.

Particularly useful for prototype development, design changes are easy to make should they be required. Also, it is possible to modify bladders post-manufacture should it be required, which can avoid considerable redesign and cost.

ATL have the experience to undertake even the most complex defence projects and are accustomed to the timescales, security requirements and other considerations necessary for a successful collaboration. Our staff are security cleared and we have well established systems and security in place.

Flexible fuel bladders can offer distinct benefits over rigid metal tanks:

• The weight of a bladder is considerably less than all other fuel storage options, meaning that the overall capability of a vehicle is not compromised.
• Bladder can be mounted further inboard than traditional fabricated tanks, resulting in greater protection of your stored fuel.
• In the event of serious damage, a flexible fuel cell can generally be repaired and re-used, whereas a fabricated metal tank would require replacement.
• If a fuel cell does need to be replaced, the flexible nature of a bladder means that considerably less vehicle disassembly is required to remove the bladder and re-install a new one.
• If additional fuel capacity is required in a vehicle and new fuel tanks must be retrofitted, the use of a traditional fabricated metal tank presents serious limitations on where the fuel tank can be fitted and the capacity that it can hold. The use of a fuel bladder allows for greater choice of locations for the fuel storage, such as unused lockers or ammunition bays.