Saab Barracuda Soft Armor System

[ryoder 1,590]

http://digg.com/video/sweden-invented-bulletproof-walls

This is fascinating;
I would never have thought a few inches of loose ceramic pellets would stop bullets.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[councilman24 37]

Took a while to get to the bullets. Got this ad first.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKLnhuzh9uY

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[DougH 270]

That is pretty awesome.

"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

[pchapman 279]

Cool.
I don't know about the weight and how it compares to more conventional steel plate and such.

In tank armor they have been playing with and using ceramics for decades, sometimes using armor with multiple layers of material of different densities to disrupt the path of a projectile.

Some interesting ideas though, to use loose rather than fixed armor elements.

[BleuCiel 0]

pchapman

Some interesting ideas though, to use loose rather than fixed armor elements.

I guess with fixed armor plates that if a 2nd shot hits in the same spot as a previous shot, then it stands a much better chance of penetrating. But with these loose spheres, when a bullet hits in one place, more spheres just drop down into place to replace the void created by whatever damage occurred. So there is always a fresh supply of new spheres to take subsequent shots, even in the same place. So I think its not just the impact absorbing effects of the ceramic spheres, but also the way they're stacked to allow gravity to fill any voids.

[skycop 0]

That would be kind of hard to wear........

"Just 'cause I'm simple, don't mean I'm stewpid!"

[champu 1]

For fixed/structure applications I'm curious how it stacks up (har har) against a sandbag wall in terms of cost/performance.