An armor assembly having an armor panel, a base plate, and a resilient member coupled between the armor panel and the base plate is disclosed. An impact blast or projectile will strike the armor assembly and deflect the armor panel and the resilient member. The resilient member and armor panel absorb sufficient energy from the impact blast or projectile to prevent harm to underlying structures. The resilient member can be a spring or a solid member having a desired spring coefficient to protect against a certain impact load.

A multi-threat security apparatus system for critical infrastructure protection is disclosed having an above-ground concrete base, a vertical post system adapted to be attached to the above-ground concrete base and to receive a plurality of louvers. The plurality of louvers provides the necessary ballistic protection for and air flow through to the critical infrastructure. The louvers may include a composite of aluminum foam, a resin impregnated ballistic material and an aluminum foam. The composite structure may be used on doors, panels or building walls.

A ballistic protection material (10) having a composite layer (16) that comprises a mesh (54) embedded in a mass of compacted particulate material (56) that is bound together by a binder material (66). The mesh (54) may be a metal mesh, the particulate material (56) may comprise ceramic particles (64) and the binder material (66) may be an epoxy resin matrix. The ballistic protection material (10) may comprise additional layers, for example, a first layer (12) comprising a first class of steel and a second layer (14) comprising a second class of steel that is different to the first class of steel. The second layer (14) can be positioned intermediate the first layer (12) and the composite layer (16).

An antiballistic armor-plating component, includes a ceramic body made of a material comprising, as percentages by volume, between 35% and 55% of silicon carbide, between 20% and 50% of boron carbide, between 15% and 35% of a metallic silicon phase or of a metallic phase including silicon.

Antiballistic armour plate includes a ceramic body including a hard material, provided, on its inner face, with a back energy-dissipating coating. The ceramic body is monolithic. The constituent material of the ceramic body includes grains of ceramic material having a Vickers hardness that is higher than 15 GPa, and a matrix binding the grains, the matrix including a silicon nitride phase and/or a silicon oxynitride phase, the matrix representing between 5 and 40% by weight of the constituent material of the ceramic body. The maximum equivalent diameter of the grains of ceramic material is smaller than or equal to 800 micrometres. The constituent material of the ceramic body has an open porosity that is higher than 5% and lower than 14%. The metallic silicon content in the material, expressed per mm of thickness of the body, is lower than 0.5% by weight.

A multi-plate armor system used as an add-on armor in the armored vehicles, especially military vehicles. More specifically, disclosed is an armor system which, having a structure that will not be affected from impacts as well as having weight values acceptable for industry standards per unit area (kg/m.sup.2), at least two plates positioned to the armored vehicle body with a specific distance between them, allows the resulting destructive effect to be felt in the large surface with minimal damage by deflecting the impact direction of the ballistic threat such as bullets, spall etc.

The present invention provides for methods and compositions for lightweight composite antiballistic assemblies comprising interlocking ceramic plates or modules. The modules may he self-contained and include both ceramic and ductile elements. Alternatively, interlocking ceramic plates may be arrayed over a ductile backing layer of metal or antiballistic fiber or polymer. The ceramic elements may be enhanced with carbon nanotubes or other reinforcing nanomaterials. In one or more embodiments, the strike-face, or front-facing surface, of this assembly may feature a non-planar design to assist in defeating incoming projectiles.

An armor system with a composite laminate having at least four alternating layers (two bi-layers) of a first material and a second material, the first material having a lower acoustic impedance than the second material. The first material is an elastomer and the second material can be a hard material such as steel, aluminum, or ceramic, or an elastomer with a higher acoustic impedance than the first material. The laminate can include many alternating layers of the first and second materials, and can be adhered or affixed to a thicker armor substrate. Additional protective elements such as corrugated metal-ceramic panels and armored glass cylinders can be added to improve resistance to armor piercing rounds, explosively formed penetrators, or other threats.

An armor component having a plurality of ceramic elements, where each ceramic element is covered by a metal coating. Each metal coating covers the outer surface of only one ceramic element. The metal coating is configured to increase a dwell time for the armor component when the armor component is impacted by a projectile.

A compositionally-graded structure including a body having a first major surface and a second major surface opposed from the first major surface along a thickness axis, the body including a metallic component and a ceramic component, wherein a concentration of the ceramic component in the body is a function of location within the body along the thickness axis, wherein transitions of the concentration of the ceramic component in the body are continuous such that distinct interfaces are not macroscopically established within the body, and wherein the concentration of the ceramic component is at least 95 percent by volume at at least one location within the body along the thickness axis.