Protective Armor Saving More Lives in Iraq War
VALLEY FORGE, PA, JUNE 4, 2007 – Soldiers from the Vietnam War would hardly recognize the body armor being worn today by U.S. troops in Iraq. The heavy and cumbersome Vietnam-era bullet-proof vests used outdated ceramic, steel, or reinforced plastic. Today’s armored vests use lighter, stronger ceramic plates that absorb the force of impact and buffer the impact to the soldier’s body, greatly minimizing blunt-force trauma.
“Upon contact by a projectile, the plate actually shatters, with the force being dissipated outward. The backing behind the plate works much like a catcher’s mitt catching a high-velocity pitch,” said Steve Elliott of armor plate manufacturer Saint-Gobain. “Several soldiers have reported to the Army that the vest absolutely saved their lives.”
In recent years, Saint-Gobain Corporation, headquartered in Valley Forge, PA, has emerged as a leading provider of materials for body, vehicle, and aircraft armor. The $8.6 billion company, known for packaging, construction products, and high-performance materials, has formed an Armor Synergy Group among its diverse North American businesses to develop products that men and women in the military would undoubtedly consider “life saving.” The full range of applications of the Saint-Gobain armor technology includes transport aircraft, helicopters, land vehicles, AC-130U gunships, and body armor.
“The worldwide market for armor products has grown tremendously in recent years,” said Elliott, Director of Contract Program Management for Saint-Gobain Structural Ceramics. “The broad range of efforts by our Synergy Group and our regular dialogue enhances Saint-Gobain’s understanding of the market so that we make increasingly safer products.”
One key development is the silicon carbide ceramic plate that is the principal protective component of the armor vests. These plates, with their complex geometry designed for the human shape, more effectively defeat high-caliber projectiles. Saint-Gobain provides the plates – known as Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts, or ESAPI plates – to makers of enhanced body armor.
In the past several years, the company has produced more than 100,000 plates for this use. The ceramics business – which has plants which make the plates in Niagara Falls, NY, Worcester, MA, and Rodental, Germany – just announced that it is expanding production capacity at its Niagara Falls facility to meet the higher demand for enhanced body armor from the U.S. military.
Another key creative force in the armor market is Saint-Gobain Crystals, which makes Sapphire Transparent Armor Windows for use in armored vehicles. The window laminate system, which incorporates commercially grown sapphire sheet, delivers high strength, high hardness, and good transparency in the visible and infrared spectra. The system also significantly reduces the overall system weight and thickness while enhancing ballistic performance, which is a big plus in armored vehicles. Saint-Gobain uses the patented EFG™ (Edge defined Film fed Growth) growth process to create the sapphire, which is bonded to glass using conventional interlayers, such as polyvinyl butyral. Saint-Gobain Crystals is devoted to optimizing the unique properties of materials through advanced industrial processing and serves such markets as the military, homeland security, medical imaging, and aerospace.
Sapphire for military vehicular and aircraft armor is produced at the company’s Milford, NH, facility. Its use in the Sapphire Transparent Armor Windows came from a cooperative effort between Saint-Gobain Crystals and Saint-Gobain Sully, a world leader in laminated glass ballistic windows. The window systems are being offered to the commercial sector as well for applications where industrial safety is a concern.
Other members of the Saint-Gobain Armor Synergy Group include Saint-Gobain Solcera, maker of specialty ceramic products, and Vetrotex, a provider of glass reinforcements.
Saint-Gobain Corporation employs approximately 24,000 people in the U.S. and Canada. Globally, Saint-Gobain has sales of $52 billion, operations in 50 countries, and 200,000 employees.
Elva Légère Clements
610-520-6140, Ext. 203
elva@alvare.com
“Upon contact by a projectile, the plate actually shatters, with the force being dissipated outward. The backing behind the plate works much like a catcher’s mitt catching a high-velocity pitch,” said Steve Elliott of armor plate manufacturer Saint-Gobain. “Several soldiers have reported to the Army that the vest absolutely saved their lives.”
In recent years, Saint-Gobain Corporation, headquartered in Valley Forge, PA, has emerged as a leading provider of materials for body, vehicle, and aircraft armor. The $8.6 billion company, known for packaging, construction products, and high-performance materials, has formed an Armor Synergy Group among its diverse North American businesses to develop products that men and women in the military would undoubtedly consider “life saving.” The full range of applications of the Saint-Gobain armor technology includes transport aircraft, helicopters, land vehicles, AC-130U gunships, and body armor.
“The worldwide market for armor products has grown tremendously in recent years,” said Elliott, Director of Contract Program Management for Saint-Gobain Structural Ceramics. “The broad range of efforts by our Synergy Group and our regular dialogue enhances Saint-Gobain’s understanding of the market so that we make increasingly safer products.”
One key development is the silicon carbide ceramic plate that is the principal protective component of the armor vests. These plates, with their complex geometry designed for the human shape, more effectively defeat high-caliber projectiles. Saint-Gobain provides the plates – known as Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts, or ESAPI plates – to makers of enhanced body armor.
In the past several years, the company has produced more than 100,000 plates for this use. The ceramics business – which has plants which make the plates in Niagara Falls, NY, Worcester, MA, and Rodental, Germany – just announced that it is expanding production capacity at its Niagara Falls facility to meet the higher demand for enhanced body armor from the U.S. military.
Another key creative force in the armor market is Saint-Gobain Crystals, which makes Sapphire Transparent Armor Windows for use in armored vehicles. The window laminate system, which incorporates commercially grown sapphire sheet, delivers high strength, high hardness, and good transparency in the visible and infrared spectra. The system also significantly reduces the overall system weight and thickness while enhancing ballistic performance, which is a big plus in armored vehicles. Saint-Gobain uses the patented EFG™ (Edge defined Film fed Growth) growth process to create the sapphire, which is bonded to glass using conventional interlayers, such as polyvinyl butyral. Saint-Gobain Crystals is devoted to optimizing the unique properties of materials through advanced industrial processing and serves such markets as the military, homeland security, medical imaging, and aerospace.
Sapphire for military vehicular and aircraft armor is produced at the company’s Milford, NH, facility. Its use in the Sapphire Transparent Armor Windows came from a cooperative effort between Saint-Gobain Crystals and Saint-Gobain Sully, a world leader in laminated glass ballistic windows. The window systems are being offered to the commercial sector as well for applications where industrial safety is a concern.
Other members of the Saint-Gobain Armor Synergy Group include Saint-Gobain Solcera, maker of specialty ceramic products, and Vetrotex, a provider of glass reinforcements.
Saint-Gobain Corporation employs approximately 24,000 people in the U.S. and Canada. Globally, Saint-Gobain has sales of $52 billion, operations in 50 countries, and 200,000 employees.
 |
Left: Armor for insertion into a vehicle seat back. Right, bottom two: Side Small Armor Protective Inserts. Right, top two: Enhanced Small Armor Protective Inserts. |  |
Saint-Gobain Sapphire Transparent Armor Window and silicon carbide ceramic plates are shown. |
 Armored vests use lighter, stronger ceramic plates that minimizing blunt-
force trauma. |
 Saint-Gobain armor technology is used on land vehicles, aircraft, gunships, and body armor. |
||
Elva Légère Clements
610-520-6140, Ext. 203
elva@alvare.com