A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain, and brick.
A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or a bullet-resistant vest, is an item of body armour that helps absorb the impact and reduce or stop penetration to the torso by firearm-fired projectiles and fragmentation from explosions. The vest may come in a soft form, as worn by many police officers, prison officers, security guards, and some private citizens, used to protect against stabbing attacks or light projectiles, or hard form, using metallic or para-aramid components. Soldiers and police tactical units wear hard armour, either in conjunction with soft armour or alone, to protect against rifle ammunition or fragmentation.
Chobham armour is the informal name of a composite armour developed in the 1960s at the British tank research centre on Chobham Common, Surrey. The name has since become the common generic term for composite ceramic vehicle armour. Other names informally given to Chobham armour include Burlington and Dorchester. Special armour is a broader informal term referring to any armour arrangement comprising sandwich reactive plates, including Chobham armour.
The Interceptor Multi-Threat Body Armor System (IBA) is a bullet-resistant body armor system that was used by the United States Armed Forces during the 2000s, with some limited usage into the mid-2010s. IBA and its design replaced the older standardized fragmentation protective Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops (PASGT) body armor system that was designed in the late 1970s and introduced in the early 1980s.
Bulletproof glass, ballistic glass, transparent armor, or bullet-resistant glass is a strong and optically transparent material that is particularly resistant to penetration by projectiles. Like any other material, it is not completely impenetrable. It is usually made from a combination of two or more types of glass, one hard and one soft. The softer layer makes the glass more elastic, so that it can flex instead of shatter. The index of refraction for all of the glasses used in the bulletproof layers must be almost the same to keep the glass transparent and allow a clear, undistorted view through the glass. Bulletproof glass varies in thickness from 3⁄4 to 3+1⁄2 inches.
Many ceramic materials, both glassy and crystalline, have found use as optically transparent materials in various forms from bulk solid-state components to high surface area forms such as thin films, coatings, and fibers. Such devices have found widespread use for various applications in the electro-optical field including: optical fibers for guided lightwave transmission, optical switches, laser amplifiers and lenses, hosts for solid-state lasers and optical window materials for gas lasers, and infrared (IR) heat seeking devices for missile guidance systems and IR night vision.
Avon Protection plc is a British company that specialises in the engineering and manufacturing of respiratory protection equipment for military, law enforcement and fire personnel. Its corporate headquarters are 3 km (1.9 mi) south of Melksham in Wiltshire, England, at the Hampton Park West development. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Military vehicles are commonly armoured to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, shells, rockets, and missiles, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fighting vehicles like tanks, aircraft, and ships.
Body armor, personal armor, armored suit (armoured) or coat of armor, among others, is protective clothing designed to absorb or deflect physical attacks. Historically used to protect military personnel, today it is also used by various types of police, private security guards, or bodyguards, and occasionally ordinary citizens. Today there are two main types: regular non-plated body armor for moderate to substantial protection, and hard-plate reinforced body armor for maximum protection, such as used by combatants.
The Small Arms Protective Insert (SAPI) is a ceramic ballistic plate used by the United States Armed Forces. It was first used in the Ranger Body Armor and Interceptor Body Armor, both are ballistic vests. It is now also used in the Improved Outer Tactical Vest as well as the Modular Tactical Vest, in addition to commercially available "plate carriers". The Kevlar Interceptor vest itself is designed to stop projectiles up to and including 9×19mm Parabellum submachine gun rounds, in addition to fragmentation. To protect against higher-velocity rifle rounds, SAPI plates are needed.
A ballistic plate, also known as an armour plate, is a protective armoured plate inserted into a carrier or bulletproof vest, that can be used stand-alone, or in conjunction with other armour. "Hard armour" usually denotes armour that uses ballistic plates.
The Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH) is the United States Army's current combat helmet, used since the early 2000s. It was developed by the United States Army Soldier Systems Center, the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to be the next generation of protective combat helmets for use by the American ground forces. The ACH is derived from the Modular Integrated Communications Helmet.
Ranger Body Armor (RBA) is a US military-issue ballistic vest that was designed for, and used chiefly by, US Army 75th Ranger Regiment operators ("Rangers") in the 1990s and 2000s. The RBA system has since been replaced by other specialized body armor systems adopted by the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).
The Bull is an armored personnel carrier with a v-shaped hull designed in a combined effort between Ceradyne, Ideal Innovations Inc. (I-3), and Oshkosh Corporation in response to the MRAP II competition. "The Bull" is a trade-mark of Ideal Innovations, Inc. (I-3).
The Improved Outer Tactical Vest (IOTV) is an enhanced version of, and a replacement for, the older Outer Tactical Vest (OTV) component of the Interceptor Multi-Threat Body Armor System, as fielded by the United States Army beginning in the mid-2000s. The IOTV is compatible with the Deltoid and Axillary Protector System (DAPS) components, ESAPI, Enhanced Side Ballistic Inserts (ESBI), as well as the OTV's groin protector. It has a flame-resistant standalone shirt, the Army Combat Shirt (ACS), designed specifically for use with the IOTV.
Improvised vehicle armour is a form of vehicle armour consisting of protective materials added to a vehicle such as a car, truck, or tank in an irregular and extemporized fashion using available materials. Typically, improvised armour is added in the field and it was not originally part of the design, an official up-armour kit, nor centrally planned and distributed. Improvised armour is used to protect occupants from small arms, crew-served weapons, artillery fire, and mines. Improvised additions have included metal plate, scrap metal, sandbags, concrete, wood, and, since at least the 2000s, Kevlar. These materials vary widely in their ballistic protection.
Ceramic armor is armor used by armored vehicles and in personal armor to resist projectile penetration through its high hardness and compressive strength. In its most basic form, it consists of two primary components: A ceramic layer on the outer surface, called the "strike face," backed up by a ductile fiber reinforced plastic composite or metal layer. The role of the ceramic is to (1) fracture the projectile or deform the projectile nose upon impact, (2) erode and slow down the projectile remnant as it penetrates the shattered ceramic layer, and (3) distribute the impact load over a larger area, which can be absorbed by ductile polymer or metallic backings. Ceramics are often used where light weight is important, as they weigh less than metal alloys for a given degree of resistance. The most common materials are alumina, boron carbide, and, to a lesser extent, silicon carbide.
Dragon Skin is a type of ballistic vest first-produced by the now-defunct company Pinnacle Armor, and was subsequently manufactured by North American Development Group LLC. The vest manufacturer claimed that it could absorb a high number of bullets because of its unique design involving circular discs that overlapped, similar to scale armor.
The Enhanced Combat Helmet (ECH) is a combat helmet designed in conjunction of a joint program of the United States Marine Corps and United States Army to replace the current combat helmets in use by the U.S. Army, Marines, Navy, and Air Force. Although similar in shape of the Advanced Combat Helmet and its predecessor the Modular Integrated Communications Helmet, the ECH is instead constructed using thermoplastics instead of the ballistic fibers used on previous-generation combat helmets.
The Integrated Head Protection System (IHPS) is the United States Army's newest combat helmet, intended to eventually replace the Advanced Combat Helmet and Enhanced Combat Helmet.
