The objective of this proposal is to develop lightweight high temperature armors that could sustain high temperature environment (up to 500F) and provide sufficient ballistic protection for the engine compartment of Marine Corps EFV, while meeting the weight, structural, functional and performance requirements. The current armor configuration for EFV is only rated at 250F without degradation with ballistic performance of stopping 20mm FSP at 4,000 ft/s. However, there are several areas of the vehicle where temperatures can go much higher than 250F in the event of an exhaust failure. For example, the engine compartment roof could exceed 500F during exhaust failure, which makes the current armor configuration lose structural integrity and ballistic resistance. To achieve this goal, Frontier is proposing a novel composite armor solution to develop a lightweight, cost-effective and high performance armor system that can be continuously operated at 500F environment and maintain its ballistic performance during its entire service life to stop 20mm FSP at 4,000 ft/s. During the Phase I effort, Frontier will demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed concept and innovation, identify and address the present technical hurdles, perform proof-of-principle validation as well as address the performance-cost-weight issues.
Benefit: The market for armor materials is performance, weight and cost driven. At projected affordable cost, significant weight reduction, and the expected improvement in ballistic performance over current benchmark phenolic of epoxy based armor systems, Frontiers novel armor technology will have a great potentials for various combat vehicles, ships and aircrafts protections. Frontiers current generation of lightweight armor can be used for applications up to 400F, while the proposed advanced high temperature armor can be used for protection at 500F. Frontiers novel fabrication process can greatly reduce the cost of the armor while provide better ballistic protection makes Frontiers armor systems great candidates to protect valuable assets.
Keywords: High Temperature, High Temperature, ceramic, glass fber, Composite, armor
