The evolution of anti-antitank defences

If being cloth-eared is a term of abuse for someone who's not listening to you, what's cloth-armoured? Better protected against RPG attacks:

Cunning new UK technology will see British troops' vehicles in Afghanistan protected from armour-piercing rocket warheads — by cloth.

The MoD was pleased yesterday to unveil its new TARIAN "textile based" vehicle protection system, which will see lightweight cloth attached to the sides of military vehicles in Afghan combat. TARIAN is expected to resist strikes from RPGs, shoulder-fired antitank rockets in common use among the Taliban.

That might seem to be impossible, as an RPG warhead can blast a hole through thick armour plate. But in fact TARIAN, already on trial in Afghanistan, apparently works well.