Sincethe day the first man threw a rock at his cave-mate, societies have been racingto develop armor that would defend against the projectiles of their enemies, orto develop projectiles that would defeat their enemys armor. Amazing strideshave been made in the last quarter century in the field of ballisticprotection, but as with any use of new technology, there have been setbacks,some severe. Without stringent and effective standards of manufacture andtesting, those setbacks have the potential to envelop and cripple the industry.Very recent changes to the way ballistic armor is regulated will save theindustry, and the lives of the police officers who depend on it.

Highperformance polymeric fibres have met a warm welcome, right from their introductionon the market. The availability of materials with strength surpassing widelythat of traditional construction materials has stimulated the imagination ofmany. A large number of ideas for new applications or creative solutions toexisting problems have been proposed. However, no single application field hasbeen revolutionized to such an extent as the field of lightweight armor.Lightweight armor is used in those situations wherein traditional armor (assteel and concrete) cannot be used because of weight limitations. Majorapplication fields are personal protection, Armoring of vehicles, Helicopters,Patrol boats and Transportable shelters (as command shelters). Present daystate of the art lightweight armor is based on strong organic and inorganic materials.To read more,

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Kunwar Venkteshwar Singh holds an M.Tech (Textiles) from IIT Delhi. He was working as aTechnical Executive at The Bombay Textile Research Association (BTRA), Mumbai.Currently he is working as Product Manager (New Services) at BusinessDevelopment Bureau, Veritas Consumer Product Services (I) Pvt. Ltd.