Parting

Modern armor based on composite materials. Homogeneous and composite armor There are tricks against scrap

In an age when a guerrilla armed with a hand grenade can destroy everything from a main battle tank to an infantry truck with a shot, William Shakespeare's words "And gunsmiths are now held in high esteem" are as relevant as possible. Armor technologies are evolving to protect all combat units, from tanks to foot soldiers.

Traditional threats that have always spurred the development of vehicle armor include the high-velocity kinetic projectile fired from enemy tank cannons, ATGM HEAT warheads, recoilless rifles, and infantry grenade launchers. However, the combat experience of counterinsurgency and peacekeeping operations conducted by the armed forces has shown that armor-piercing bullets from rifles and machine guns, together with the ubiquitous improvised explosive devices or roadside bombs, have become the main threat to light combat vehicles.

As a result, while many of the current developments in armor are aimed at protecting tanks and armored personnel carriers, there is also a growing interest in armor schemes for lighter vehicles, as well as improved types of body armor for personnel.

The main type of armor that combat vehicles are equipped with is thick metal, usually steel. In main battle tanks (MBTs), it takes the form of rolled homogeneous armor (RHA - rolled homogeneous armor), although aluminum is used in some lighter vehicles, such as the M113 armored personnel carrier.

Perforated steel armor is a plate with a group of holes drilled perpendicular to the front surface and has a diameter less than half the diameter of the intended enemy projectile. The holes reduce the mass of the armor, while in terms of the ability to withstand kinetic threats, the reduction in armor performance in this case is minimal.

improved steel

The search for the best type of armor continues. Improved steels allow increased protection while maintaining the original weight or, for lighter sheets, maintain existing levels of protection.

The German company IBD Deisenroth Engineering has been working with its steel suppliers to develop a new high-strength nitrogen steel. In comparative tests with existing Armox500Z High Hard Armor steel, it has shown that protection against 7.62x54R small arms ammunition can be achieved by using sheets having a thickness of about 70% of the thickness required using the previous material.

In 2009, the British Defense Science and Technology Laboratory DSTL, in collaboration with Coras, announced armored steel. called Super Bainite. Made using a process known as isothermal hardening, it does not require expensive additives to prevent cracking during production. The new material is created by heating the steel to 1000°C, then cooling it to 250°C, then holding it at that temperature for 8 hours before finally cooling it to room temperature.

In cases where the enemy does not have armor-piercing weapons, even a commercial steel plate can do a good job. For example, Mexican drug gangs use heavily armored trucks fitted with steel plates to protect them from small arms fire. Given the widespread use of so-called "vehicles", trucks equipped with machine guns or light cannons, in low-intensity conflicts in the developing world, it would be surprising if armies did not come face to face with similar armored "vehicles" during future unrest.

Composite armor

Composite armor, consisting of layers of different materials, such as metals, plastics, ceramics or an air gap, has proven to be more effective than steel armor. Ceramic materials are brittle and, when used alone, provide only limited protection, but when combined with other materials, they form a composite structure that has proven effective in protecting vehicles or individual soldiers.

The first composite material to be widely used was a material called Combination K. It was reported to be fiberglass sandwiched between inner and outer sheets of steel; it was used on Soviet T-64 tanks, which entered service in the mid-60s.

British-designed Chobham armor was originally installed on the British experimental tank FV 4211. While it is classified, but, according to unofficial data, it consists of several elastic layers and ceramic tiles enclosed in a metal matrix and glued to the base plate. It was used on the Challenger I and II tanks and on the M1 Abrams.

This class of technology may not be needed unless the attacker has sophisticated armor-piercing weapons. In 2004, a disgruntled American citizen fitted a Komatsu D355A bulldozer with his own composite armor made from concrete sandwiched between steel sheets. Armor 300 mm thick was impenetrable for small arms. It's probably just a matter of time before drug gangs and rebels equip their cars in this way.

Add-ons

Instead of equipping vehicles with increasingly thick and heavy steel or aluminum armor, armies began to adopt various forms of mounted additional protection.

One of the well-known examples of hinged passive armor based on composite materials is the Mexas (Modular Expandable Armor System) modular expandable armor system. Designed by the German IBD Deisenroth Engineering, it was manufactured by Chempro. Hundreds of armor kits were made for tracked and wheeled armored fighting vehicles, as well as wheeled trucks. The system was installed on the Leopard 2 tank, the M113 armored personnel carrier and wheeled vehicles, such as the Renault 6 x 6 VAB and the German Fuchs vehicle.

The company has developed and started deliveries of its next system - advanced modular armor protection Amap (Advanced Modular Armor Protection). It is based on modern steel alloys, aluminum-titanium alloys, nanometer steels, ceramics and nanoceramic materials.

Scientists from the aforementioned DSTL laboratory have developed an additional ceramic protection system that could be hung on cars. After this armor was developed for serial production by the British company NP Aerospace and received the designation Camac EFP, it was used in Afghanistan.

The system uses small hexagonal ceramic segments whose size, geometry and placement in the array have been studied by DSTL. The individual segments are held together with a cast polymer and placed in a composite material with high ballistic characteristics.

The use of hinged panels of active-reactive armor (dynamic protection) to protect vehicles is well known, but the detonation of such panels can damage the vehicle and pose a threat to nearby infantry. As its name suggests, Slera's self-limiting explosive reactive armor limits the spread of the impact of an explosion, but pays for this with somewhat reduced performance. It uses materials that can be classified as passive; they are not as effective as fully detonable explosives. However, Slera can provide protection against multiple hits.

The non-explosive active-reactive armor NERA (Non-Explosive Reactive Armor) takes this concept further and, being passive, offers the same protection as the Slera, plus good multi-hit protection against HEAT warheads. Non-Energetic Reactive Armor (non-energy active-reactive armor) has additionally improved characteristics to deal with cumulative warheads.

All protective structures of body armor can be divided into five groups, depending on the materials used:

Textile (woven) armor based on aramid fibers

Today, ballistic fabrics based on aramid fibers are the basic material for civilian and military body armor. Ballistic fabrics are produced in many countries of the world and differ significantly not only in names, but also in characteristics. Abroad, these are Kevlar (USA) and Twaron (Europe), and in Russia - a number of aramid fibers, which differ markedly from American and European ones in their chemical properties.

What is aramid fiber? Aramid looks like thin yellow gossamer fibers (other colors are very rarely used). Aramid threads are woven from these fibers, and ballistic fabric is subsequently made from the threads. Aramid fiber has a very high mechanical strength.

Most experts in the field of body armor development believe that the potential of Russian aramid fibers has not yet been fully realized. For example, armor structures made from our aramid fibers are superior to foreign ones in terms of "protection characteristics / weight". And some composite structures in this indicator are no worse than structures made of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). At the same time, the physical density of UHMWPE is 1.5 times less.

Ballistic fabric brands:

Kevlar ® (DuPont, USA)
Twaron ® (Teijin Aramid, Netherlands)
SVM, RUSAR® (Russia)
Heracron® (Colon, Korea)

Metal armor based on steel (titanium) and aluminum alloys

After a long break from the days of medieval armor, armor plates were made of steel and were widely used during the First and Second World Wars. Light alloys began to be used later. For example, during the war in Afghanistan, body armor with elements of armor aluminum and titanium became widespread. Modern armor alloys make it possible to reduce the thickness of panels by two to three times compared to panels made of steel, and, consequently, reduce the weight of the product by two to three times.

Aluminum armor. Aluminum outperforms steel armor, providing protection against 12.7mm or 14.5mm AP bullets. In addition, aluminum is provided with a raw material base, is more technologically advanced, welds well and has a unique anti-fragmentation and anti-mine protection.

titanium alloys. The main advantage of titanium alloys is the combination of corrosion resistance and high mechanical properties. To obtain a titanium alloy with predetermined properties, it is alloyed with chromium, aluminum, molybdenum and other elements.

Ceramic armor based on composite ceramic elements

Since the beginning of the 80s, ceramic materials have been used in the production of armored clothing, surpassing metals in terms of the "degree of protection / weight" ratio. However, the use of ceramics is only possible in combination with ballistic fiber composites. At the same time, it is necessary to solve the problem of low survivability of such armored panels. Also, it is not always possible to effectively realize all the properties of ceramics, since such an armored panel requires careful handling.

In the Russian Ministry of Defense, the task of high survivability of ceramic armor panels was identified back in the 1990s. Until then, ceramic armor panels were much inferior to steel ones in this indicator. Thanks to this approach, today the Russian troops have a reliable development - the armored panels of the Granit-4 family.

The bulk of body armor abroad consists of composite armor panels, which are made from solid ceramic monoplates. The reason for this is that for a soldier during combat operations, the chance of being repeatedly hit in the area of the same armor panel is extremely small. Secondly, such products are much more technologically advanced; less labor-intensive, and hence their cost is much lower than the cost of a set of smaller tiles.

Used elements:

Aluminum oxide (corundum);
Boron carbide;
Silicon carbide.

Composite armor based on high modulus polyethylene (laminated plastic)

To date, armor panels based on UHMWPE fibers (ultra-high-modulus polyethylene) are considered the most advanced type of armored clothing from class 1 to 3 (in terms of weight).

UHMWPE fibers have high strength, catching up with aramid ones. Ballistic products made of UHMWPE have positive buoyancy and do not lose their protective properties, unlike aramid fibers. However, UHMWPE is completely unsuitable for the manufacture of body armor for the army. In military conditions, there is a high probability that the bulletproof vest will come into contact with fire or hot objects. Moreover, body armor is often used as bedding. And UHMWPE, no matter what properties it has, still remains polyethylene, the maximum operating temperature of which does not exceed 90 degrees Celsius. However, UHMWPE is excellent for making police vests.

It is worth noting that a soft armor panel made of a fibrous composite is not capable of providing protection against bullets with a carbide or heat-strengthened core. The maximum that a soft fabric structure can provide is protection from pistol bullets and shrapnel. To protect against bullets from long-barreled weapons, it is necessary to use armored panels. When exposed to a bullet from a long-barreled weapon, a high concentration of energy is created in a small area, moreover, such a bullet is a sharp striking element. Soft fabrics in bags of reasonable thickness will no longer hold them. That is why it is advisable to use UHMWPE in a design with a composite base of armored panels.

The main suppliers of UHMWPE aramid fibers for ballistic products are:

Dyneema® (DSM, Netherlands)
Spectra® (USA)

Combined (layered) armor

Materials for body armor of the combined type are selected depending on the conditions in which the body armor will be used. NIB developers combine the materials used and use them together - thus, it was possible to significantly improve the protective properties of body armor. Textile-metal, ceramic-organoplastic and other types of combined armor are widely used today throughout the world.

The level of protection of body armor varies depending on the materials used in it. However, today not only the materials for bulletproof vests themselves play a decisive role, but also special coatings. Thanks to the advances in nanotechnology, models are already being developed whose impact resistance has been increased many times over while significantly reducing thickness and weight. This possibility arises due to the application of a special gel with nano-cleaners to the hydrophobized Kevlar, which increases the resistance of Kevlar to dynamic impact by five times. Such armor can significantly reduce the size of the body armor, while maintaining the same protection class.

Read about the classification of PPE.

The invention relates to the field of development of means of protecting equipment from armor-piercing bullets.

Progress in the creation of highly effective destructive weapons and the increase in the requirements for armor protection determined by it led to the creation of multilayer combined armor. The ideology of combined protection consists in a combination of several layers of dissimilar materials with priority properties, including a front layer of extra hard materials and a high-strength energy-intensive rear layer. Ceramics of the highest category of hardness are used as materials for the frontal layer, while its task is reduced to the destruction of the hardened core due to stresses that arise during their high-speed interaction. The rear retaining layer is designed to absorb kinetic energy and block fragments resulting from the impact interaction of a bullet with ceramics.

Known technical solutions designed to protect surfaces with complex geometric relief - US patents No. 5972819 A, 26.10.1999; No. 6112635 A, 09/05/2000, No. 6203908 B1, 03/20/2001; patent of the Russian Federation No. 2329455, 20.07.2008. Common in these solutions is the use of small-sized ceramic elements in the frontal high-hard layer, as a rule, in the form of bodies of revolution, among which elements in the form of cylinders are most widely used. At the same time, the efficiency of the ceramics is increased by using convex sloping ends on one or both sides of the cylinders. In this case, when the projectile hits the oval surfaces of the ceramics, the mechanism of withdrawing or knocking the bullet off the flight path operates, which significantly complicates the work of overcoming the ceramic barrier. In addition, the use of small-sized ceramics in this case provides a higher level of survivability compared to the tiled version due to a significant reduction in the affected area and partial local maintainability of structures, which is very important for practice.

At the same time, the high efficiency of multilayer armor is determined not only by the properties of the materials of the main layers, but also by the conditions of their interaction during a high-speed impact, in particular, by acoustic contact between the ceramic and back layers, which makes it possible to partially transfer elastic energy to the back substrate.

Modern ideas about the mechanism of impact interaction of an armor-piercing core and combined protection are as follows. At the initial stage, when the core meets the armor, its penetration into the ceramic does not occur due to the fact that the latter has a significantly higher hardness compared to that of the core, then the core is destroyed due to the generation of high stresses in it that occur when braking against a ceramic barrier, and determined by the complex wave processes occurring in this case. The degree of core destruction is mainly determined by the time of interaction until the moment of destruction of the ceramic, while the acoustic contact between the layers plays a key role in increasing this time due to the partial transfer of elastic energy to the rear layer, followed by its absorption and dissipation.

A technical solution is known, set forth in US patent No. 6497966 B2, 12/24/2002, which proposes a multilayer composition consisting of a front layer made of ceramic or an alloy with a hardness above 27 HRC, an intermediate layer of alloys with a hardness of less than 27HRC and a back layer of polymer composite material. In this case, all layers are fastened together with a polymeric winding material.

In fact, in this case we are talking about a two-layer composition of the destructive frontal layer, made from materials that differ in hardness. In the recommendations of the authors of this technical solution, it is proposed to use carbon steels in a less hard layer, while questions about the energy exchange of the front and rear layers are not considered, and the proposed class of materials cannot, by its properties, serve as an active participant in the transfer of elastic energy to the rear layer.

The solution to the issues of interaction between the front and rear layers is proposed in the patent of the Russian Federation No. 2329455, 20.07.2008, which, in terms of the totality of common features, is the closest analogue to the proposed invention and was chosen as a prototype. The authors propose the use of an intermediate layer in the form of an air gap or an elastic material.

However, the proposed solutions have a number of significant drawbacks. So, at the initial stage of interaction with ceramics, the elastic wave precursor of destruction reaches its rear surface and causes it to move.

When the gap collapses, the impact of the inner surface of the ceramic on the substrate can cause premature destruction of the ceramic and, consequently, accelerated penetration of the ceramic barrier. To avoid this, it is necessary either to significantly increase the thickness of the ceramic, which will lead to an unacceptable increase in the mass of the armor, or to increase the thickness of the gap, which will reduce the protection efficiency due to the separate (stage-by-stage) destruction of individual layers.

In the second version, the authors of the prototype propose to place an elastic layer between the layers, which should protect the ceramics from destruction upon impact with the rear armor. However, due to the low characteristic impedance of the elastic material, the interlayer will not be able to provide acoustic contact between the layers, which will lead to energy localization in brittle ceramics and its early failure.

The problem to be solved by the invention is to increase the armor resistance of the combined armor.

The technical result of the invention is to increase the armor resistance of the combined armor by increasing the density of acoustic contact between the layers.

The disadvantages of the prototype can be eliminated if the intermediate layer is made of a plastic material with certain properties that provides acoustic contact between the layers and the transfer of elastic energy to the rear. The above is achieved if the yield strength of the intermediate layer is 0.05-0.5 of the yield strength of the material of the back layer.

In the presence of an intermediate layer made of a plastic material with a yield strength of 0.05-0.5 of the yield strength of the material of the back layer, in the process of moving ceramics under the action of an elastic wave precursor, leaks and small gaps in the adjacent layers are eliminated due to plastic deformation of the latter. In addition, under the action of stress waves, its density increases, and hence its characteristic impedance. All this together leads to an increase in the density of acoustic contact between the layers and increases the proportion of energy transmitted and dissipated in the back layer. As a result, due to the presence of an intermediate layer made of a plastic material with a yield strength of 0.05-0.5 of the yield strength of the back layer material, the impact interaction energy is distributed over all layers of the combined armor, while its efficiency increases significantly, since the time of interaction before the destruction of ceramics increases, which, in turn, provides a more complete destruction of the high-hard core.

An intermediate layer with a yield strength of more than 0.5 of the yield strength of the back layer does not have sufficient plasticity and does not lead to the desired result.

Making the intermediate layer of a plastic material with a yield strength of less than 0.05 of the value of the yield strength of the material of the back layer will not lead to the desired result, since its extrusion during the impact interaction is too intense and the effect described above on the mechanics of the interaction processes is not.

The proposed technical solution was tested in the test center NPO SM, St. Petersburg. The ceramic layer in the prototype 200×200 mm was made of AJI-1 corundum cylinders with a diameter of 14 mm and a height of 9.5 mm. The back layer was made of Ts-85 armor steel (yield strength = 1600 MPa) 3 mm thick. The intermediate layer was made of AMC grade aluminum foil (yield strength = 120 MPa) 0.5 mm thick. The ratio of the yield strengths of the intermediate and back layers is 0.075. Ceramic cylinders and all layers were glued together with a polyurethane-based polymer binder.

The results of field tests showed that the proposed version of the combined armor protection has armor resistance 10-12% higher compared to the prototype, where the intermediate layer is made of an elastic material.

Multilayer combined armor containing a highly hard front layer of a ceramic block or elements connected by a binder into a monolith, a high-strength energy-intensive back layer and an intermediate layer, characterized in that the intermediate layer is made of a plastic material with a yield strength of 0.05-0.5 of the limit back layer fluidity.

Similar patents:

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SUBSTANCE: invention relates to bulletproof composite products, which are characterized by improved resistance to reverse deformation. Bulletproof product contains a vacuum panel, which consists of the first surface, the second surface and the body. The vacuum panel limits at least a part of the internal volume in which the vacuum is created. Bulletproof product contains at least one bulletproof base, which is connected to the first or second surface of the vacuum panel. The ballistic base contains fibers and/or tapes with a specific strength of about 7 g/denier or more and a tensile modulus of about 150 g/denier or more. Also, the bulletproof base is made of a rigid material not based on fibers or tapes. Also proposed is a method for forming a bulletproof article, in which the bulletproof base is positioned so that it is on the outside of the bulletproof article, and the specified vacuum panel is placed behind the specified at least one bulletproof base in order to receive any shock wave that occurs as a result of impact. striking element on the specified bulletproof base. EFFECT: weakening of the impact of shock waves generated as a result of the impact action of the projectile, reduction of the magnitude of the purl deformation, prevention or minimization of injuries from the transcendent action of bullets. 3 n. and 7 z.p. f-ly, 9 ill., 2 tables, 19 pr.

SUBSTANCE: group of inventions relates to the field of measuring technology, namely to a method for quality control of composite armor barriers made of fabric and a device for its implementation. The method includes installing a composite armor barrier in front of a plate made of plastic material, directing the projectile at the armor barrier at a given speed, and determining the absorption energy of the projectile. From the moment of interaction between the armored barrier and the damaging element, two spatial fields are simultaneously recorded on the surface of the armored barrier: the temperature field of the surface of the armored barrier and the field of the video image of the surface. The video image contour is superimposed on the temperature field, a new measured temperature field is formed, and the absorption energy by the composite armor barrier is determined based on the analysis of the new temperature field. Disclosed is a device for quality control of composite armor barriers made of fabric for the implementation of the method. EFFECT: increased informative value and reliability of control results. 2 n. and 1 z.p. f-ly, 5 ill.

The invention relates to the field of development of means of protecting equipment from armor-piercing bullets. Multilayer combined armor contains a highly hard front layer of a ceramic block or elements connected by a binder into a monolith, a high-strength energy-intensive back layer and an intermediate layer. The intermediate layer is made of a plastic material having a yield strength of 0.05-0.5 of the yield strength of the back layer. An increase in the armor resistance of the combined armor is achieved by increasing the density of acoustic contact between the layers.

Scenarios for future wars, including lessons learned in Afghanistan, will create asymmetrically mixed challenges for soldiers and their ammunition. As a result, the need for stronger yet lighter armor will continue to increase. Modern types of ballistic protection for infantrymen, cars, aircraft and ships are so diverse that it is hardly possible to cover them all within the framework of one small article. Let us dwell on a review of the latest innovations in this area and outline the main directions of their development. Composite fiber is the basis for creating composite materials. The most durable structural materials currently made from fibers, such as carbon fiber or ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE).

Over the past decades, many composite materials have been created or improved, known under the trademarks KEVLAR, TWARON, DYNEEMA, SPECTRA. They are made by chemical bonding either para-aramid fibers or high-strength polyethylene.

Aramids (Aramid) - a class of heat-resistant and durable synthetic fibers. The name comes from the phrase "aromatic polyamide" (aromatic polyamide). In such fibers, the chains of molecules are strictly oriented in a certain direction, which makes it possible to control their mechanical characteristics.

They also include meta-aramids (for example, NOMEX). Most of them are copolyamides, known under the brand name Technora produced by the Japanese chemical concern Teijin. Aramids allow for a greater variety of fiber directions than UHMWPE. Para-aramid fibers such as KEVLAR, TWARON and Heracron have excellent strength with minimal weight.

High tenacity polyethylene fiber Dyneema, produced by DSM Dyneema, is considered the most durable in the world. It is 15 times stronger than steel and 40% stronger than aramid for the same weight. This is the only composite that can protect against 7.62mm AK-47 bullets.

Kevlar- well-known registered trademark of para-aramid fiber. Developed by DuPont in 1965, the fiber is available in the form of filaments or fabric, which are used as a basis in the creation of composite plastics. For the same weight, KEVLAR is five times stronger than steel, yet more flexible. For the manufacture of the so-called "soft bulletproof vests" KEVLAR XP is used, such "armor" consists of a dozen layers of soft fabric that can slow down piercing and cutting objects and even low-energy bullets.

NOMEX- another DuPont development. Refractory fiber from meta-aramid was developed back in the 60s. last century and first introduced in 1967.

Polybenzoimidazole (PBI) - a synthetic fiber with an extremely high melting point that is nearly impossible to ignite. Used for protective materials.

branded material Rayon is recycled cellulose fibers. Since Rayon is based on natural fibers, it is neither synthetic nor natural.

SPECTRA- composite fiber manufactured by Honeywell. It is one of the strongest and lightest fibers in the world. Using proprietary SHIELD technology, the company has been producing ballistic protection for the military and police units based on SPECTRA SHIELD, GOLD SHIELD and GOLD FLEX materials for more than two decades. SPECTRA is a bright white polyethylene fiber that is resistant to chemical damage, light and water. According to the manufacturer, this material is stronger than steel and 40% stronger than aramid fiber.

TWARON- trade name for Teijin's durable heat-resistant para-aramid fiber. The manufacturer estimates that using the material to protect armored vehicles can reduce armor weight by 30–60% compared to armor steel. The Twaron LFT SB1 fabric, produced using proprietary lamination technology, consists of several layers of fibers located at different angles to each other and interconnected by a filler. It is used for the production of lightweight flexible body armor.

Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), also called high molecular weight polyethylene - class of thermoplastic polyethylenes. Synthetic fiber materials under the brands DYNEEMA and SPECTRA are extruded from the gel through special dies that give the fibers the desired direction. The fibers consist of extra-long chains with a molecular weight of up to 6 million. UHMWPE is highly resistant to aggressive media. In addition, the material is self-lubricating and extremely resistant to abrasion - up to 15 times more than carbon steel. In terms of friction coefficient, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene is comparable to polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon), but is more wear-resistant. The material is odorless, tasteless, non-toxic.

Combined armor

Modern combined armor can be used for personal protection, vehicle armor, naval vessels, aircraft and helicopters. Advanced technology and low weight allow you to create armor with unique characteristics. For example, Ceradyne, which recently became part of the 3M concern, entered into an $80 million contract with the US Marine Corps to supply 77,000 high-protection helmets (Enhanced Combat Helmets, ECH) as part of a unified program to replace protective equipment in the US Army, Navy and KMP. The helmet makes extensive use of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene instead of the aramid fibers used in the manufacture of previous generation helmets. Enhanced Combat Helmets are similar to the Advanced Combat Helmet currently in service, but thinner. The helmet provides the same protection against small arms bullets and shrapnel as the previous designs.

Sgt. Kyle Keenan shows close-range 9mm pistol bullet dents on his Advanced Combat Helmet, sustained in July 2007 during an operation in Iraq. Composite fiber helmet is able to effectively protect against small arms bullets and shell fragments.

A person is not the only thing that requires the protection of individual vital organs on the battlefield. For example, aircraft need partial armor to protect the crew, passengers and on-board electronics from fire from the ground and striking elements of the warheads of air defense missiles. In recent years, many important steps have been taken in this area: innovative aviation and ship armor has been developed. In the latter case, the use of powerful armor is not widely used, but it is of decisive importance when equipping ships conducting operations against pirates, drug dealers and human traffickers: such ships are now being attacked not only by small arms of various calibers, but also by shelling from hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers.

Protection for large vehicles is manufactured by TenCate's Advanced Armor division. Her series of aviation armor is designed to provide maximum protection at the minimum weight to allow it to be mounted on aircraft. This is achieved by using the TenCate Liba CX and TenCate Ceratego CX armor lines, the lightest materials available. At the same time, the ballistic protection of the armor is quite high: for example, for TenCate Ceratego it reaches level 4 according to the STANAG 4569 standard and withstands multiple hits. In the design of armor plates, various combinations of metals and ceramics are used, reinforcement with fibers of aramids, high molecular weight polyethylene, as well as carbon and fiberglass. The range of aircraft using TenCate armor is very wide: from the Embraer A-29 Super Tucano light multifunctional turboprop to the Embraer KC-390 transporter.

TenCate Advanced Armor also manufactures armor for small and large warships and civilian vessels. Booking is subject to critical parts of the sides, as well as ship premises: weapons magazines, the captain's bridge, information and communication centers, weapons systems. The company recently introduced the so-called. tactical naval shield (Tactical Naval Shield) to protect the shooter on board the ship. It can be deployed to create an impromptu gun emplacement or removed within 3 minutes.

QinetiQ North America's LAST Aircraft Armor Kits take the same approach as mounted armor for ground vehicles. Parts of the aircraft that require protection can be strengthened within one hour by the crew, while the necessary fasteners are already included in the supplied kits. Thus, Lockheed C-130 Hercules, Lockheed C-141, McDonnell Douglas C-17 transport aircraft, as well as Sikorsky H-60 and Bell 212 helicopters, can be quickly modernized if the mission conditions require the possibility of firing from small arms. The armor withstands hit by an armor-piercing bullet of 7.62 mm caliber. Protection of one square meter weighs only 37 kg.

transparent armor

The traditional and most common vehicle window armor material is tempered glass. The design of transparent "armor plates" is simple: a layer of transparent polycarbonate laminate is pressed between two thick glass blocks. When a bullet hits the outer glass, the main impact is taken by the outer part of the glass "sandwich" and the laminate, while the glass cracks with a characteristic "web", well illustrating the direction of dissipation of kinetic energy. The polycarbonate layer prevents the bullet from penetrating the inner glass layer.

Bulletproof glass is often referred to as "bulletproof". This is an erroneous definition, since there is no glass of reasonable thickness that can withstand an armor-piercing bullet of 12.7 mm caliber. A modern bullet of this type has a copper jacket and a core made of a hard dense material - for example, depleted uranium or tungsten carbide (the latter is comparable in hardness to diamond). In general, the bullet resistance of tempered glass depends on many factors: caliber, type, bullet speed, angle of impact with the surface, etc., so the thickness of bullet-resistant glass is often chosen with a double margin. At the same time, its mass also doubles.

PERLUCOR is a material with high chemical purity and outstanding mechanical, chemical, physical and optical properties.

Bulletproof glass has its well-known disadvantages: it does not protect against multiple hits and is too heavy. Researchers believe that the future in this direction belongs to the so-called "transparent aluminum". This material is a special mirror-polished alloy that is half the weight and four times stronger than tempered glass. It is based on aluminum oxynitride - a compound of aluminum, oxygen and nitrogen, which is a transparent ceramic solid mass. In the market, it is known under the brand name ALON. It is produced by sintering an initially completely opaque powder mixture. After the mixture melts (melting point of aluminum oxynitride - 2140°C), it is rapidly cooled. The resulting hard crystalline structure has the same scratch resistance as sapphire, i.e. it is virtually scratch-resistant. Additional polishing not only makes it more transparent, but also strengthens the surface layer.

Modern bullet-proof glasses are made in three layers: an aluminum oxynitride panel is located on the outside, then tempered glass, and everything is completed with a layer of transparent plastic. Such a “sandwich” not only perfectly withstands armor-piercing bullets from small arms, but is also able to withstand more serious tests, such as fire from a 12.7 mm machine gun.

Bullet-resistant glass, traditionally used in armored vehicles, even scratches sand during sandstorms, not to mention the impact on it of fragments of improvised explosive devices and bullets fired from AK-47s. Transparent "aluminum armor" is much more resistant to such "weathering". A factor holding back the use of such a remarkable material is its high cost: about six times higher than that of tempered glass. The "clear aluminium" technology was developed by Raytheon and is now offered under the name Surmet. At a high cost, this material is still cheaper than sapphire, which is used where particularly high strength (semiconductor devices) or scratch resistance (wristwatch glass) is needed. Since more and more production capacities are involved in the production of transparent armor, and the equipment allows the production of sheets of an ever larger area, its price may eventually decrease significantly. In addition, production technologies are constantly improving. After all, the properties of such a “glass”, which does not succumb to shelling from an armored personnel carrier, are too attractive. And if you remember how much "aluminum armor" reduces the weight of armored vehicles, there is no doubt: this technology is the future. For example: at the third level of protection according to the STANAG 4569 standard, a typical glazing area of 3 square meters. m will weigh about 600 kg. Such a surplus greatly affects the driving performance of an armored vehicle and, as a result, its survivability on the battlefield.

There are other companies involved in the development of transparent armor. CeramTec-ETEC offers PERLUCOR, a glass ceramic with high chemical purity and outstanding mechanical, chemical, physical and optical properties. The transparency of PERLUCOR material (over 92%) allows it to be used wherever tempered glass is used, while it is three to four times harder than glass, and also withstands extremely high temperatures (up to 1600 ° C), exposure to concentrated acids and alkalis.

IBD NANOTech transparent ceramic armor is lighter than tempered glass of the same strength - 56 kg/sq. m against 200

IBD Deisenroth Engineering has developed transparent ceramic armor comparable in properties to opaque samples. The new material is about 70% lighter than bulletproof glass and can, according to IBD, withstand multiple bullet hits in the same areas. The development is a by-product of the process of creating a line of armored ceramics IBD NANOTech. During the development process, the company created technologies that allow gluing a large-area “mosaic” of small armored elements (Mosaic Transparent Armor technology), as well as laminating gluing with reinforcing substrates made of Natural NANO-Fibre proprietary nanofibers. This approach makes it possible to produce durable transparent armor panels, which are much lighter than traditional ones made of tempered glass.

The Israeli company Oran Safety Glass has found its way into transparent armor plate technology. Traditionally, on the inner, “safe” side of the glass armored panel, there is a reinforcing layer of plastic that protects against flying glass fragments inside the armored vehicle when bullets and shells hit the glass. Such a layer can gradually become scratched during inaccurate rubbing, losing transparency, and also tends to peel off. ADI's patented technology for strengthening armor layers does not require such reinforcement while observing all safety standards. Another innovative technology from OSG is ROCKSTRIKE. Although modern multi-layered transparent armor is protected from the impact of armor-piercing bullets and shells, it is subject to cracking and scratching from fragments and stones, as well as gradual delamination of the armor plate - as a result, the expensive armor panel will have to be replaced. ROCKSTRIKE technology is an alternative to metal mesh reinforcement and protects glass from damage by solid objects flying at speeds up to 150 m/s.

Infantry protection

Modern body armor combines special protective fabrics and hard armor inserts for additional protection. This combination can even protect against 7.62mm rifle bullets, but modern fabrics are already capable of stopping a 9mm pistol bullet on their own. The main task of ballistic protection is to absorb and dissipate the kinetic energy of a bullet impact. Therefore, the protection is made multi-layered: when a bullet hits, its energy is spent on stretching long, strong composite fibers over the entire area of the body armor in several layers, bending the composite plates, and as a result, the bullet speed drops from hundreds of meters per second to zero. To slow down a heavier and sharper rifle bullet traveling at a speed of about 1000 m / s, inserts of hard metal or ceramic plates are required along with fibers. The protective plates not only dissipate and absorb the energy of the bullet, but also blunt its tip.

A problem for the use of composite materials as protection can be sensitivity to temperature, high humidity and salty sweat (some of them). According to experts, this can cause aging and destruction of the fibers. Therefore, in the design of such bulletproof vests, it is necessary to provide protection from moisture and good ventilation.

Important work is also being done in the field of body armor ergonomics. Yes, body armor protects against bullets and shrapnel, but it can be heavy, bulky, hamper movement and slow down the movement of an infantryman so much that his helplessness on the battlefield can become almost a greater danger. But in 2012, the US military, where, according to statistics, one in seven servicemen is female, began testing body armor designed specifically for women. Prior to this, female military personnel wore male "armor". The novelty is characterized by a reduced length, which prevents chafing of the hips when running, and is also adjustable in the chest area.

Body armor using Ceradyne ceramic composite armor inserts on display at Special Operations Forces Industry Conference 2012

The solution to another drawback - the significant weight of body armor - can occur with the start of the use of the so-called. non-Newtonian fluids as "liquid armor". A non-Newtonian fluid is one whose viscosity depends on the velocity gradient of its flow. At the moment, most body armor, as described above, uses a combination of soft protective materials and hard armor inserts. The latter create the main weight. Replacing them with non-Newtonian fluid containers would both lighten the design and make it more flexible. At different times, the development of protection based on such a liquid was carried out by different companies. The British branch of BAE Systems even presented a working sample: packages with a special Shear Thickening Liquid gel, or bulletproof cream, had about the same protection indicators as a 30-layer Kevlar body armor. The disadvantages are also obvious: such a gel, after being hit by a bullet, will simply flow out through the bullet hole. However, developments in this area continue. It is possible to use the technology where impact protection is required, not bullets: for example, the Singapore company Softshell offers sports equipment ID Flex, which saves from injuries and is based on a non-Newtonian fluid. It is quite possible to apply such technologies to the internal shock absorbers of helmets or infantry armor elements - this can reduce the weight of protective equipment.

To create lightweight body armor, Ceradyne offers armor inserts made of hot-pressed boron and silicon carbides into which fibers of a composite material are pressed in a special way. Such a material withstands multiple hits, while hard ceramic compounds destroy the bullet, and composites dissipate and dampen its kinetic energy, ensuring the structural integrity of the armor element.

There is a natural analogue of fiber materials that can be used to create extremely light, elastic and durable armor - the web. For example, the cobweb fibers of the large Madagascar Darwin spider (Caerostris darwini) have an impact strength up to 10 times higher than that of Kevlar threads. To create an artificial fiber similar in properties to such a web, the decoding of the spider silk genome and the creation of a special organic compound for the manufacture of heavy-duty threads would allow. It remains to be hoped that biotechnologies, which have been actively developing in recent years, will someday provide such an opportunity.

Armor for ground vehicles

The protection of armored vehicles continues to increase. One of the most common and proven methods of protection against anti-tank grenade launchers is the use of an anti-cumulative screen. The American company AmSafe Bridport offers its own version - flexible and lightweight Tarian nets that perform the same functions. In addition to low weight and ease of installation, this solution has another advantage: in case of damage, the mesh can be easily replaced by the crew, without the need for welding and locksmithing in case of failure of traditional metal gratings. The company has signed a contract to supply the United Kingdom Department of Defense with several hundred of these systems in parts now in Afghanistan. The Tarian QuickShield kit works in a similar way, designed to quickly repair and fill gaps in traditional steel lattice screens of tanks and armored personnel carriers. QuickShield is delivered in a vacuum package, occupying a minimum habitable volume of armored vehicles, and is also now being tested in "hot spots".

AmSafe Bridport TARIAN anti-cumulative screens can be easily installed and repaired

Ceradyne, already mentioned above, offers DEFENDER and RAMTECH2 modular armor kits for tactical wheeled vehicles, as well as trucks. For light armored vehicles, composite armor is used, protecting the crew as much as possible under severe restrictions on the size and weight of the armor plates. Ceradyne works closely with armor manufacturers to give armor designers the opportunity to take full advantage of their designs. An example of such deep integration is the BULL armored personnel carrier, jointly developed by Ceradyne, Ideal Innovations and Oshkosh as part of the MRAP II tender announced by the US Marine Corps in 2007. One of its conditions was to protect the crew of the armored vehicle from directed explosions, the use of which has become more frequent while in Iraq.

The German company IBD Deisenroth Engineering, which specializes in the development and manufacture of defense equipment for military equipment, has developed the Evolution Survivability concept for medium armored vehicles and main battle tanks. The integrated concept uses the latest developments in nanomaterials used in the IBD PROTech line of protection upgrades and is already being tested. On the example of the modernization of the Leopard 2 MBT protection systems, this is an anti-mine reinforcement of the bottom of the tank, side protective panels to counter improvised explosive devices and roadside mines, protection of the roof of the tower from air blast ammunition, active protection systems that hit guided anti-tank missiles on approach, etc.

BULL armored personnel carrier - an example of deep integration of Ceradyne protective technologies

The Rheinmetall concern, one of the largest manufacturers of weapons and armored vehicles, offers its own ballistic protection upgrade kits for various vehicles of the VERHA series - Versatile Rheinmetall Armor, "Rheinmetall Universal Armor". The range of its application is extremely wide: from armor inserts in clothing to the protection of warships. Both the latest ceramic alloys and aramid fibers, high molecular weight polyethylene, etc. are used.

Homogeneous armor.

At the dawn of the advent of land armored vehicles, the main type of protection was simple steel sheets. Their older comrades, battleships and armored trains, by this time managed to acquire cemented and multilayer armor, but these types of armor came into serial tank building only after the WWII.

Homogeneous armor is hot-rolled sheets or cast structures, from which an armored body is assembled by one method or another. Rivets were the first assembly method, as the cheapest and fastest at that time. Later, bolted connections significantly replaced rivets. By the middle of WWII, electric arc welding became the main method of connecting armor plates. Initially, welding was predominantly manual gas-flame, but the development of electrical engineering and the development of mass production of electrodes of sufficiently high quality led to the wider use of electric arc welding. Since the beginning of the 1930s, attempts have been made to introduce automatic electric arc welding into mass production. But, it was possible to achieve acceptable quality at an acceptable cost only during WWII in the USSR, when in the production of T-34-76 tanks and tanks of the KV family, for the first time in the world, they began to use automatic arc welding under a layer of powder flux.

Despite the invention of electric arc welding at the end of the 19th century by Russian engineer N.N. Benardos, until the end of WWII in tank building, the connection of armor plates with bolts and rivets was used to a limited extent. This was a consequence of the problems that arise when welding thick plates of medium carbon steels (0.25-0.45% C). High-carbon steels are practically not used in tank building even now.

Also, it is difficult to achieve high-quality welds when welding alloyed and insufficiently cleaned steels. To refine the structural grain of steels, manganese and other alloying elements are added. They also increase the hardenability of steels, thereby reducing local stresses in the weld. Hardening of armor plates can sometimes be used, but this method is used extremely limitedly, since pre-hardened armor plates create even greater problems during welding due to the inhomogeneity of the internal stress field. Normalization annealing or low tempering is usually used for stress relief. But, in order to achieve a significant increase in hardness, the steel must first be hardened to martensite or troostite (that is, high hardening). High hardening of thick-walled parts of complex shape is always a great difficulty, if this is a part the size of a tank hull, then the task is practically unsolvable.

To increase the resistance of homogeneous armor, it is desirable to increase the surface hardness of the armor plates, and leave the cores and the side facing inward to be viscous and relatively elastic. This approach was first implemented on ironclads of the late 19th century. In armored vehicles, this solution has been used much already.

The problem of cementation is the need for a long exposure of the part in a powder carburizer (a mixture based on coke, a few percent lime, and a small addition of potash) at temperatures of 500-800*C. In this case, it is problematic to achieve a uniform thickness of the carbide layer. In addition, the core of the steel part becomes coarse-grained, which sharply reduces its fatigue strength and somewhat reduces all strength parameters.

A more advanced method is nitriding. Nitriding is technically more difficult to carry out, but, after nitriding, the part is subjected to normalization annealing with cooling in oil. This somewhat compensates for the increase in the structural grain. But, the depth of the nitriding layer does not exceed one millimeter with a nitriding time of tens of hours.

An excellent method is cyanidation. It is carried out faster, the hardness is not lower, the heating temperature is relatively small. But, dipping armor plates (and even more so, a tank hull) into a molten mixture of cyanides is, to put it mildly, not environmentally friendly, and indeed, a dubious pleasure.

Optimum armor protection properties can be achieved by using a welded hull made of medium carbon steel, and the top of the hull can be closed with welded and/or threaded plates of hardened high-strength steel.

Composite armor.

Composite materials are, in general, materials that combine two or more components with very different properties. These include reinforced, multilayer, filled, and other compositions (“composition”, in this sense, can be roughly translated as “mixture” or “combination”).

Classical examples of composite materials include simple reinforced concrete slabs, or, for example, a mixture of cobalt and powdered tungsten carbide used to produce hardfacing for high-speed tools. At the same time, the term “composite materials” has acquired the classical meaning and the greatest popularity in relation to compositions based on polymer matrices reinforced with one or another reinforcement (fiber, powders, rovings, felts (non-woven textiles), hollow spheres, fabrics, etc.) .

In relation to armor protection, composite armor is armor that includes structural elements made of materials with very different properties. As we said above, it is desirable to make the outer plates as hard as possible, and leave the carrier base with good machinability and high viscosity.

Therefore, composite armor can include various combinations of ductile and elastic material and high-hardness material: medium carbon steel + ceramic, aluminum + ceramic, titanium alloy + hardened tool steel, quartz glass + armor steel, fiberglass + ceramic + steel, steel + UHMWPE + corundum ceramics, and many others. etc. Usually, the outer plate is made of a material with medium strength properties, it performs the function of an anti-cumulative screen, and also provides protection for solid fragile elements from fragments and bullets. The lowest layer is carried out as a carrier, the optimal material for it is armored steel and / or aluminum alloys. If funds allow, then titanium alloys. To stop the most effective anti-tank weapons, high-strength fiber lining can be additionally used (usually Kevlar, but sometimes nylon, lavsan, nylon, UHMWPE, etc. are used). The lining stops fragments that occur during incomplete penetration of armor, fragments of a collapsed BOPS core, small fragments from a small hole with a cumulative projectile. In addition, the lining increases the thermal insulation and sound insulation of the machine. The lining does not add much weight, affecting the cost of armored vehicles more.

Unlike homogeneous armor, any composite armor works for destruction. Simply put, the upper screen is easily penetrated by almost any anti-tank weapon. Hard plates perform their function in the process of more or less brittle destruction, and the bearing part of the armor stops the already scattered impact of the cumulative jet or fragments of the BOPS core. The lining insures against more powerful anti-tank weapons, but its capabilities are very limited.

When designing composite armor, three important factors are also taken into account: cost, density, and machinability of the material. The stumbling block of ceramics is machinability. Quartz glass also has poor machinability, and a solid cost. Steels and tungsten alloys are characterized by high density. Polymers, although very light, are usually expensive, and are sensitive to fire (as well as to prolonged heating). Aluminum alloys are relatively expensive and have low hardness. Unfortunately, there is no ideal material. But, certain combinations of different materials often allow you to optimally solve a technical problem at an acceptable cost.