Loading ...Naxcer Composites Group has developed a new armor system for use in aerospace, marine, and non tactical vehicle armor. While the company’s origins are in consultancy of stressed operations, engagements with composites companies inspired Naxcer to research the industry.
“Most of the larger players are still using single-material solutions, or hybridization only when necessary for large ballistic preps,” says Naxcer CEO Andrew Chumney. “We felt there was an opportunity for us to understand the spectrum of the market and develop our own system to meet their criteria.”
Naxcer looked at combining the two camps in armor: hardened/rolled armor, and ceramic and advanced composites. The company wanted to find the best adaptations of metal and composites to have an armor solution that fit many threat profiles.
The manufacturing process uses aramid (Kevlar) fibers, which Naxcer says reduces the cost of the Naxcer Armor System and ballistic products while still achieving comparable performance to ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE, sometimes shortened to UHMW), commercially known as Dyneema or Spectra.
The company has also conducted testing on E-Glass and S-Glass materials for hybridized ballistic solutions resulting in lower than industry area weights for comparable ballistic performance. Additionally, the company has tested many of the known ceramic based solutions in combination with its aramid-based solutions achieving a high performance ballistic solution.
The new system will address issues with heavy vehicle weight and resulting rollover common with steel applications. A Humvee, for example, has a 12,500 gross vehicle design weight (GVW) and when weaponry and accessories are add, its 6,000 pounds over its original design weight. Chumney says their solution would decrease the weight by 20-30 percent, which could prove beneficial in the field. “There are fantastic vehicles right now, but we’re killing too many soldiers because the added steel changes the center of gravity, resulting in increased vehicle rollovers,” he says.
