British arms company BAE systems has presented a material that can be used to produce a new generation of body armor. The novelty is a liquid thickener, the chemical formula of which the company is keeping secret. It is proposed to be used in combination with traditional Kevlar, from which modern body armor is made.
BAE Systems calls the new material "bulletproof cream".
"It is very similar to custard in the sense that the molecules bind to each other upon impact," explains Stuart Penny, Development Manager for BAE Systems, who is in charge of the new materials direction.
The US Army Research Laboratories have also conducted tests with similar materials.
However, according to BAE, tests conducted in Bristol show for the first time that "liquid armor" can effectively protect soldiers from bullets and shrapnel.
Thanks to the new technology, the company says, lighter, more flexible and more efficient body armor may be on the market.
"The standard body armor we now use is too thick and heavy," says Stuart Penny.
In a series of tests, the developers used large gas cannons that fired metal balls at a speed of 300 meters per second.
In one test, 31 layers of untreated Kevlar were targeted. In another case, ten layers of Kevlar were used combined with a liquid thickener.
"The liquid-added Kevlar worked more quickly and the penetration was not as deep," the researchers said in tests at Bristol's BAE Technology Development Center.
