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| Science & Technology |
| 2005-10-19 |
| Engineers are testing a new kind of transparent armor -- stronger and lighter than traditional materials -- that could stop armor-piercing weapons from penetrating vehicle windows. The Air Force Research Laboratory's materials and manufacturing directorate is testing aluminum oxynitride -- ALONtm -- as a replacement for the traditional multi-layered glass transparencies now used in existing ground and air armored vehicles. The test are being done in conjunction with the Army Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md., and University of Dayton Research Institute, Ohio. ALONtm is a ceramic compound with a high compressive strength and durability. When polished, it is the premier transparent armor for use in armored vehicles, said 1st Lt. Joseph La Monica, transparent armor sub-direction lead. "The substance itself is light years ahead of glass," he said, adding that it offers "higher performance and lighter weight." Traditional transparent armor is thick layers of bonded glass. The new armor combines the transparent ALONtm piece as a strike plate, a middle section of glass and a polymer backing. Each layer is visibly thinner than the traditional layers. ALONtm is virtually scratch resistant, offers substantial impact resistance, and provides better durability and protection against armor piercing threats, at roughly half the weight and half the thickness of traditional glass transparent armor, said the lieutenant. In a June 2004 demonstration, an ALONtm test pieces held up to both a .30 caliber Russian M-44 sniper rifle and a .50 caliber Browning Sniper Rifle with armor piercing bullets. While the bullets pierced the glass samples, the armor withstood the impact with no penetration. In extensive testing, ALONtm has performed well against multiple hits of .30 caliber armor piercing rounds -- typical of anti-aircraft fire, Lieutenant La Monica said. Ttests focusing on multiple hits from .50 caliber rounds and improvised explosive devices are in the works. The lieutenant is optimistic about the results because the physical properties and design of the material are intended to stop higher level threats. "The higher the threat, the more savings you're going to get," he said. "With glass, to get the protection against higher threats, you have to keep building layers upon layers. But with ALONtm, the material only needs to be increased a few millimeters." This ability to add the needed protection with only a small amount of material is very advantageous, said Ron Hoffman, an investigator at University of Dayton Research Institute. "When looking at higher level threats, you want the protection, not the weight," Mr. Hoffman said. "Achieving protection at lighter weights will allow the armor to be more easily integrated into vehicles." Mr. Hoffman also pointed out the benefit of durability with ALONtm. "Eventually, with a conventional glass surface, degradation takes place and results in a loss of transparency," Mr. Hoffman said. "Things such as sand have little or no impact on ALONtm, and it probably has a life expectancy many times that of glass." The scratch-resistant quality will greatly increase the transparency of the armor, giving military members more visual awareness on the battlefield. "It all comes down to survivability and being able to see what's out there and to make decisions while having the added protection," Mr. Hoffman said. The Army is looking to use the new armor as windows in ground vehicles, like the Humvee, Lieutenant La Monica said. The Air Force is exploring its use for While some see the possibilities of this material as limitless, manufacturability, size and cost are issues the lab is dealing with before the armor can transition to the field, the lieutenant said. "Traditional transparent armor costs a little over $3 per square inch. The ALONtm Transparent Armor cost is $10 to $15 per square inch," Lieutenant La Monica said. "The difficulties arise with heating and polishing processes, which lead to higher costs. But we are looking at more cost effective alternatives." Lieutenant La Monica said experimenting with the polishing process has proven beneficial. "We found that by polishing it a certain way, we increased the strength of the material by two-fold," he said. Currently, size is also limited because equipment needed to heat larger pieces is expensive. To help lower costs, the lieutenant said researchers are looking at design variations that use smaller pieces of the armor tiled together to form larger windows. Lowering cost by using a commercial grade material is also an option, and the results have been promising. "So far, the difference between the lower-grade material and higher purity in ballistic tests is minimal," he said. Lieutenant La Monica said once the material can be manufactured in large quantities to meet the military's needs, and the cost brought down, the durability and strength of ALONtm will prove beneficial to the warfighter. "It might cost more in the beginning, but it is going to cost less in the long run because you are going to have to replace it less," he said. |
| Posted by:Jackal |
| #8 If it's that good, get the cost down, figure out how to make it one way, then use it for all the upper armor on a stryker. A 360 degree field of view from inside, but no view in of the occupants, would be just the ticket. |
| Posted by: DO 2005-10-19 18:50 |
| #7 I'll believe it when I see it. I'll believe it when I see through it. |
| Posted by: Red Dog 2005-10-19 15:46 |
| #6 GOOD! Now don't give the technology to anybody else for chrissakes! |
| Posted by: anon1 2005-10-19 13:00 |
| #5 Play the pipes one last time: Star Trekâs James "Scotty" Doohan will be launched into space on December 6 Nor will Scotty be alone. His remains, together with those of 120 others, will be on a Space Services Inc Explorers flight, alongside an "unidentified astronaut and Mareta West, the astrogeologist who determined the site for the first spacecraft landing on the moon,â says CNN. Doohan, aka Enterprise chief engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, died in July, aged 85 and, "I can't think of a more fitting send-off than having some of his fans attend this, his final journey," his widow, Wende Doohan, is quoted as saying. Doohan's cremated remains will be packed into a special tube to be ejected from the rocket and are expected to orbit Earth for about 50 to 200 years, âbefore plunging into the planet's atmosphere and burning up,â says CNN. |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-10-19 11:00 |
| #4 In your best Scot's brogue, "Hello computer..." |
| Posted by: .com 2005-10-19 05:03 |
| #3 Interesting that armor is making a comeback, after being out of the race for centuries. Basically after the invention of firearms, armor was obsolete. It's spiffy that these new materials technologies are making protection available once more. But let's be real, I'm sure Russian and Chinese scientists are feverishly developing better bullets to pierce armor like this. |
| Posted by: gromky 2005-10-19 04:25 |
| #2 Pageing LTC.Montgomery Scot. |
| Posted by: raptor 2005-10-19 02:55 |
| #1 I'll believe it when I see it. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2005-10-19 01:07 |