The Firearm Blog

Minute Man Armor make armor that mounts into picatinny rails. Weird.

Jovian Thunder Bolt has more info.

A firm named Nanocomp Technologies is being funded by the Pentagon to develop lightweight vehicle and body armor. CNN reports:

In April, Lashmore had a mechanical multicaliber gun shoot bullets at different versions of his sheet, each less than a fifth of an inch thick, at a speed of 1,400 feet per second. Four sheets were breached, but three showed no damage. Lashmore and his 35 employees were ecstatic.

"We didn't expect it to work at all," he admits.

According to Nanocomp's website.

our spun conductive yarns exhibit breaking strengths up to 3 GPa expressed or in other terms: 1.5 Nt/Tex or 450,000 psi and with fracture toughness that is higher than aramids (such as Kevlar® or Twaron®). Our CNT sheets have breaking strengths, without binders, that range from 500 MPa to 1.2 GPa depending upon tube orientation. Aluminum breaks at 500 MPa, carbon steel breaks around 1 GPa.

...

Extremely Lightweight – Less than half the weight of aluminum

Not being an engineer or physicist, I really don't know what to make of their claims. Feel free to chime if you understand this stuff.

Many thanks to Mark for emailing me the link.

The IBM bullet dodging patent story, which originally broke on this blog after being discovered by reader Daniel E. Watters, created quite a lot of noise on the internet.

Noah at Danger Room noticed that the patent has since been withdrawn. It seems odd to go to all that work writing a patent, paying lawyers, only to withdraw it after news of its existance hits the internet days later. Anyone know if this happens frequently?

I had already used pat2pdf.org to convert the patent to a PDF. So here is patent number 07484451 hosted on scribd for your viewing pleasure

The lesson here is that you cannot deleted stuff off the internet, someone, somewhere, has a copy.

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I absolutely loved the scenes in the Matrix where Neo dodges bullets. Last week IBM was issued a patent that in theory would give us mortals that ability.

The patent proposes a system where an external device monitors the area for incoming projectiles. If it detects a projectile headed near a person hooked into the system it can either shock their muscles in order to move their body a particular way to dodge the bullet, Neo style, or it could simply make the intended target collapse.

Figure from the patent.

From the patent:

The present invention relates generally to the protection of an individual against a projectile propelled from a firearm. More particularly, the present invention relates to a body armor system and its method of use that is capable of detecting a projectile propelled from a firearm, computing the trajectory of the projectile, and moving the individual out of the path of the projectile to avoid being hit.

Historically, certain individuals have been exposed to the threat of assassination because of their status in society. Examples of these individuals include, but are not limited to, high ranking politicians, clerics, successful industrial entrepreneurs, and military personnel. These individuals tend to be most vulnerable during those times when they are publicly addressing large crowds, making them easy targets for snipers.

In the past, the only effective protection against “sniper fire” has been to wear bullet proof body armor…. Furthermore using armor-piercing ammunition renders body-armors even less effective and desirable.

Obama surrounded by ballistic glass at the Inauguration.

At an event the size and important as a presidential Inauguration where the high ranking target can be protected this system is not really useful, but I can see how it could in situations where this kind of protection is just not possible.

Read the full patent here. UPDATE: IBM withdrew the patent. You can read a copy I made of it here.

A big thanks to Daniel Watters for the info.

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in the UK is developing a new type of armor for vehicles that is cheaper and lighter to produce. It is made from ultra hard steel and covered in holes.

The armor.

The holes, or the edges of the holes, deflect bullets making them tumble so the “blunt” side hits the armor instead of the front. This spreads out the kinetic energy over the length of the bullet instead of it being concentrated at the front.

I don’t think this would have any effect on shaped charges, which are a mass of hot metal (usually copper), so this type of armor would probably be used in vehicles that would not be armored against shaped charges, such as RPG rounds, in the first place, for example VIP transport vehicles.

RPG-7 launcher and grenade.

From the press release:

It may seem like a strange solution but introducing holes to vehicle armour can actually provide a ective advantage. The trick is to think of them as circular ‘edges’ rather than holes. When a bullet hits an edge, it gets deflected and turns from a sharp projectile into a blunt fragment which makes it much easier to stop. The introduction of holes also reduces weight. As a result perforated Super Bainite steel armour is ballistically very efficient.

Invented, designed and manufactured in the UK, Super Bainite is experimental high performance armour steel developed to save the lives of UK Armed Forces. Traditionally the MOD has utilised offshore suppliers to fulfil its specialist armour requirements. However, following successful industrial production trials, directed by Dstl in partnership with Corus and Bodycote, the UK is now well placed to develop a secure onshore supply of specialist, high hardness steel armour.

Hat Tip: Defense Talk and “null”.

Greek company Soukos Robots S.A. have began to export their anti-RPG technology to Raytheon for use by the the US Army. From ΕΦΗΜΕΡΙΔΑ (Translated by enallos at MP.net):

In the context of a December 2006 deal, valued at 330 million USD with the US company Raytheon, Soukos Robots S.A. began to export products (kits) of special anti- RPG technology that is intended for the protection of combat vehicles and helicopters of the US Army. The effectiveness of the technology in question was confirmed after certified and successful trials were carried out in firing ranges in the USA. At this point it deserves to mark the continuous support of the hellenic MoD and more specifically the defence aquisitions directorate (ΓΔΑΕΕ).

It appears to be be an evolution of slat/cage armor. The Patent has information on how it works:

It comprises of a protective grid (12) of special configuration and hardness. In the interspaces (19) of the grid (12) there exists a polyester foam (13) for its adequate electrical insulation. The grid (12) possesses a serrate conductive entrance (14) on the side of rocket impact (40) and a conductive cathode (15) on its other side. All the electrodes (23) are connected with an electronic control unit (16) in order for the data to be transferred from the impact surfaces to this unit. The unit (16) is programmed to terminate the electric energy produced by the piezoelectric crystal to an ignition head of the Rocket Propelled Grenade RPG when this rocket strikes against the conductive entrance (14) of the protective grid (12). It can be used for the protection against the lethal Rocket propelled grenades RPG.

The saw-tooth armor design.

In summery: the saw-tooth armor carries a current sufficient enough to “shock” the piezoelectric transducer (the component which, when it hits something, causes the fuse to ignite) and so detonates the grenade early. The steel saw-tooth armor is designed in much away that it spreads out the explosion. Since it works against anti-armor grenades, I assume it disrupts the shaped charge. How it does this is beyond my understanding. If you have any ideas, please share them in the comments.

This technology has been talked about for some time, it is good to see it finally shipping.

More from the patent after the jump.
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The Times reports the Mumbai police are now complaining about having to use WWI rifles (probably not quite true) and WWII helmets. Can you believe the audacity of these cowards!

The contrast between them was vividly illustrated yesterday by CCTV footage of two militants attacking Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus, Mumbai’s main railway station, last Wednesday.

It shows the gunmen spraying automatic fire while two constables cower behind pillars, one armed with a .303 rifle similar to the Lee-Enfield weapons used by British troops in the First World War.

Lee-Enfield Rifle No 4 Mk I

In other words: locally produced .303 Lee-Enfield Rifle No 4 Mk I. rifles (Used by the Allies in WWII) or Ishapore .308 Lee-Enfields. Now you may think its an unfair fight with the terrorist rate of fire far higher than the police but consider this:

Terrorists: 16
Mumbai police force: 16,308 (based on India’s ratio of 126 officers per 100,000 population)
Approx. ratio of terrorists to officers: 1:1000

AK Rate of fire: 600 rounds per minutes (effective rate of fire of fire when taking into account reloading is much less)
Lee Enfield rate of fire: 20+ aimed rounds per minute (a well trained operator).

Terrorist rate of fire: 9600 rounds per minute.
Police rate of fire: 327,600 rounds per minute.

The majority of the force would not be front line officers nor would they have 16,000 rifles, but you see the point I am trying to make.

“The helmets used last week were World War Two-era, not designed for combat,” he said.

I need not comment on this ridiculous statement.

Y. P. Singh, who retired after 20 years in the Maharashtra police in 2005, said that he knew of two batches of body armour that had failed tests in 2001 and 2004. “They couldn’t take rounds from AK47 or AK56,” he said. “The bullets pierced the jackets.”

(No doubt they are referring to the Chinese Type 56 AK clone. There is no AK-56)

Most police forces around the world likely use Type II armor. I don’t think anyone expected the cops to charge the terrorist with fixed bayonets.

Most of the police involved were carrying .303s or self-loading rifles like those adopted by the British Army in the 1950s.

Some officers said that they were not given enough weapons training because of a shortage of ammunition and shooting ranges. In theory, all officers shoot 50 rounds a year in training. In practice, senior officers get their full quota with small arms.

They then admit that their arsenal also includes the [likely semi-] automatic 7.62mm NATO FN FAL. From their performance I would have guessed they never trained with arms.

Type 56 (Top)

I would be criticizing any police force, from any country or city, if they performed this badly.

mattling posted this comment on the poor police response on the previous post where I discussed the attacks:

Numerous reasons:

1. Everyone’s gotten used to bomb blasts in Mumbai and Delhi.
2. Police forces still carry equipment from WWII (not that old but the factories all make replicas)
3. Even after years of dealing with the mob and terrorism, police hierarchy is simply not equipped to deal with these kinds of threats.
4. Private citizens can’t import modern guns, make do with homemade and unreliable pistols.
5. No intelligence on the ground and lack of inter-agency coordination.
6. Corruption plays a part as well.
Pretty much the same reasons that led to 9/11 and that lead to general police incompetence in any american city, except here the police vans don’t have kevlar lining in their doors and ambulances are cramped 10 year old suvs converted for private use. All these factors (and more) led to a domino effect which resulted in a days long siege where it would’ve ended in a matter of an evening in America.
You know there’s something wrong when police are setting up cordons with bungee cords. How do you expect them to contain these attackers on the move? Senior officers were killed within the early hours leading to even more chaos on the ground. The joker couldn’t have schemed it better. (And he’s the ultimate schemer of them all, despite all appearances and catchphrases).
Horrible analogy, but this was Heat turned into “The Kingdom”.

In unrelated new: I am kicking myself for recently turning down a Lee Enfield mk. 5 Jungle Carbine (a real one) for a very good price.

[ Photos from Wikipedia ]

The Russian State Research and Production Enterprise (SPE) have unveiled the latest RPG, the RPG-30. The system has been designed with one purpose: to bypass Western (and no doubt Chinese) active protection systems and possibly reactive armor.

Cut-away RPG-30. Photo from ARMS-TASS.

It uses a very clever system. A small rocket is launched from a secondary tube (mounted on the side of the main tube) moments before the 105mm PG-30 round. The smaller caliber round activate the active protection system early (and possibly detonate reactive armor) allowing the PG-30 round to smash through the armor plating. A simple and clever idea.

RPG-30 vs M1 Abrams. Click to expand. Image from WAFF.

The system weights 10.3 kg (I think that is unloaded).

ARMS-TASS reports (translated using Google):

MOSCOW, Nov. 19. (Korr.ARMS-TASS). A leading global developer in the area of munitions, the State Research and Production Enterprise (SPE), “Basalt, completed the development and testing of new anti-tank rocket RPG-30. This system is anti-tank weapons capable of overcoming any active protection systems (KAZ) vehicle created so far in various countries.

As explained korr.ARMS-TASS military experts, RPG-30 is designed for single use and represents a double device. In the large-diameter cylindrical container placed tandemnaya cumulative anti-grenade PG-30 caliber 105 mm. In the container of smaller diameter, located below, is a special projectile – a false goal. His appointment – to activate when podlete means of active air defense and create conditions for smooth penetration to the goal of the primary means of destruction – PG-30.

…

According to the military representative, the test program RPG-30 is fully completed. There are currently waiting for the RPG-30 by the Russian army and its inclusion in the list of No. 1, allowing the delivery of the product for export.

Looks like Western tanks could be in trouble. I expect Hugo Chávez will be all over this once it is approved for export.

Russian media report.

Hat Tip: WAFF

Human Events has an interesting article about the use of Chinese armor-piercing bullets in Iraq and Afghanistan by insurgents.

China’s robust arms industry has been able to duplicate U.S.-made, armor-piercing rounds, and the bullets are being found with the enemy in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Two government sources tell HUMAN EVENTS the sniper ammunition is sending alarm bells through the Pentagon as it hurries to keep pace by producing improved body armor for soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors.

The sources said the Chinese munitions are not thought capable of defeating the super-hard ceramic plates that now protect service members against smalls-arms fire, including armor-piercing bullets.

I know very little about AP ammunition. Does anyone know if M948 (7.62mm Saboted Light Armor Penetrator) or M993 (7.62mm AP) can penetrate Type IV ballistic vests and a ceramic plate insert?

AP bullets. Click to expand. Image from DTIC.mil.

Defense Review discusses the implications of this and its potential impact on the mythical XSAPI armor plates that are in development.

Hat Tip: Defense Review