Soft armor (Spectra, Kevlar or other
polyethylenes) alone will stop pistol and shotgun
projectiles but harder substances, steel or ceramics,
must be used to stop rifle and armor-piercing rounds.
Steel is prohibitively heavy for the required anti-ballistic
effect so most hard armor currently used by police
and military organizations is made from ceramics.
In the 1970's manufacturers began to make ballistic
armor from aluminum oxide that is 1/3rd the weight
of steel for the same anti-ballistic effect. Since
then a new generation of ceramics has been developed
that is lighter than alumina and has significantly
better multi-hit capabilities.
SILICON CARBIDE
Reaction-sintered silicon carbide
(RSBC) is 23% lighter than alumina for the same
anti-ballistic effect and is therefore preferred.
One of our clients can clad our plates to an area
density of:
- for NIJ level IV - 34 kgs per sq. meter ( 7lbs
per sq. ft) ; a ballistic efficiency of 3.5.
- for NIJ level III plus - 20kgs per sq. meter (
4.2 lbs per sq. ft).
Until recently, silicon carbide has been up to 10
times more expensive than alumina. We have developed
a low cost method of production so we can sell our
silicon carbide breastplates more cheaply than any
other manufacturer in the world.
Our SAPI plates were recently evaluated by one of
America's largest manufacturers of personal armor
for the US Army and USMC. Their conclusion: "Simply
the best we have ever tested and the only one to
pass first article testing at the first attempt"
The picture above
is a raw ceramic plate from our factory. Armor fabricators
clad these ceramic plates to make the end-product,
an NIJ level 3 or 4 ceramic composite armor breastplate,
by cladding the ceramic in a fibre-reinforced-polymer
material (aramid or polyethelene fibre) as the spall
cover and backing.
Our armor plate can be produced
as shaped, continuous and weldable armor products.
The ability to "weld" our plates means
that we can, in theory, manufacture plates up to
1 meter x 2 meters in size
