PASS 2025


17th International Personal Armour Systems Symposium

   September 22-26 2025

Bruges, Belgium

MORE INFORMATION WILL FOLLOW SOON!

Latest Updates (update 26 Feb 2024)

Latest Updates (update 26 Feb 2024)

The Department of Weapon Systems and Ballistics of the Royal Military Academy is proud to announce that it will be hosting the 17th International Personal Armour System Symposium in the city of Bruges, Belgium. 


The Department of Weapon Systems and Ballistics is looking forward to giving you a warm welcome at the next International Symposium in Bruges!


About the Department of Weapon Systems and Ballistics 

The Department of Weapon Systems & Ballistics, which is part of the Royal Military Academy, is one of the academic departments responsible for the education of future officers studying at the RMA. The Department has three main research units and a ballistics laboratory which is ISO 17025 certified.

Survivability and Risk Assessment

POC: Col Dr Ir Col Johan Gallant

Simulation models for the evaluation of survivability of combat systems in different scenarios are used to evaluate techniques and procedures. Innovative multi-resolution computations based upon Monte Carlo simulations are used.

Research interests include system-of-systems analysis, survivability, vulnerability, lethality, hit probability, kill probability, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Stochastic simulations, ray tracing (line of fire), CAD and 3D-visualisation.

Local Response to Impact

POC: LtCol. IMM Dr Ir Frederik Coghe

Ballistic optimization of personal protection against fragments, bullets and blast. Ballistic terminal effects both experimentally and numerically using finite element codes.

Research interests include personal protection, fragment resistance, bullet resistance, stab resistance, terminal ballistics, ballistic metrology, finite element models / finite elements analysis.

Human Body Response

POC: LtCol. Dr Ir Alexandre Papy

The effect of the impact of a less-lethal projectile on the human body is studied in order to ascertain the risk of permanent injury, after the use of less-lethal ammunition, on the basis of kinetic energy.

Research interests include non-lethal weapons, biomimetic models, musculoskeletal models, behind armour blunt trauma and wound ballistics.

Accredited ballistic applications laboratory

POC: Major Ir Jurgen Grossen

The laboratory hosts a 103.25 m indoor shooting range. Research is conducted in the areas of internal ballistic, gun dynamics, external ballistics, terminal ballistics, vulnerability and lethal/non-lethal ballistics.

The laboratory is uniquely accredited for the measurement of pressures inside the weapon (C.I.P., SAAMI and NATO standards) and for the measurement of velocities outside but also inside the weapon.

The laboratory is further equipped with a high speed thermal camera, a high speed camera, a Volumetric scanner Faro®, a 3D scanner Krypton®, a Projectile Orientation Measurement (POM) device, a Digital Image Correlation System (VIC-3D ®), Hopkinson pressure bar, velocity radars, velocity screens, shadowgraphs/Schlieren, ...

About the Royal Military Academy

The Royal Military Academy, the country's only bilingual and federal university, educates women and men who are committed to today's society and ready to serve. This education combines human, exact and applied sciences, new technologies and military traditions. Our education cannot be detached from the world around us, which is why it is supported by strong academic research, collaboration with other universities, research centres or industries, and by meeting young people coming from other universities or military schools. In this context, participation in the ERASMUS programme enables exchanges that are essential to the high quality of this education.

The RMA is a place for the transfer of knowledge, but also of values. The selected candidates are at the centre of our attention. Constant follow-up with coaching increases their chances of successfully completing the training, of developing a strong sense of leadership and people skills, and of being fully prepared to embark on an officer's career in the service of our society.