Initiative of Russian developers to create new armor need targeted state support

For many years, the leading developer of Russian materials and structures to protect arms and personnel of JSC "Research Institute of Steel", included in the engineering-industrial group and is in the management of LLC "MCC" Concern "Tractor Plants", deals with the establishment of effective structures transparent armor, using the advanced achievements of the domestic industry.

Initiative in this direction, conducted specialized institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMET, Inorganic Chemistry, Ishmael), with the participation of "Steel Research Institute," in need of attention and targeted support from the Government of the Russian Federation within the framework of the federal target program to create new advanced materials. All this is especially true in the current situation unprecedented pressure on Russia from the EU and the United States.

Russian President Vladimir Putin at a recent meeting of the commission on military-technical cooperation activities set the task to bridge the gaps in some areas of import substitution in the Russian military-industrial complex. He stressed that it is fundamentally important in the first place, the program for retrofitting domestic armed forces.

And engineering-industrial group "Concern" Tractor plants "as one of the largest integrators Russian scientific-technical and production and technological resources in engineering is already actively working on a number of military importance. The need for public support for the creation of new advanced transparent armor materials due to the fact that traditional methods do not provide the ever-increasing requirements for protection.

Especially it concerns the protection of powerful weapons. Meanwhile transparent bulletproof and Ballistic armor is in high demand because it is used as glazing in various buildings and vehicles: aircraft, armored vehicles, ships, as well as for personal protection of the human face - wherever there is a need to protect his life.

Different requirements for transparent armor formulated as a special technical requirements, as well as in state and interstate standards. In Russia, such a document is GOST R 51136-2008 "Glass protective multilayer. General specifications".

At the same time, there are several general requirements traditionally imposed on transparent armor: the appropriate use of its limited by weight; sizes to ensure the necessary visibility to a user; survivability - the ability of transparent armor to withstand the required number of hits without breaking; acceptable optical performance. As materials for the manufacture of transparent armor generally used, inorganic (silicate), glass, and transparent polymers: polymethylmethacrylate (Plexiglas), polycarbonate, polyurethane.

Transparent polymer plastics in the form of a monolith or various layered compositions used to create transparent armor no more than 2 protection class according to GOST R 51136-2008 (from different pistol bullets with lead-core bullets and steel core to pistols and PM CT), as well as anti-shatter and protection against impact. Necessary component of such structures is polycarbonate, not collapsing on impact due to its high impact resistance.

For the manufacture of transparent armor higher grade of protection currently in Russia, as a rule, use hardened silicate glasses. This hardening is performed by compression of the surface layers with chemical and thermal treatment and surface hardening or dissolving the surface defect layer. Thus the strength of glass increased by 2-4 times.

However, hardening of silicate glasses is only effective for protection against weapons with low hardness (hardness less than silicate glass = 6.5 GPa). Such a tool engagement (bullet or its core) by reacting with the glass deforms without introduction, which provides gain by weight of 3 - 3.5 times compared with neuprochnёnnym glass. When interacting with a bullet having a core of high hardness, the benefits of the hardened glass are lost, as the conditions for the implementation of core as a non-deformed body.

As a result, transparent bronestruktury using hardened silicate glass to protect from damage from bullets vysokotvёrdymi cores, weigh ≥ 80-120 kg / m², so they are difficult to use, even for reservation of cars, not to mention the clear visor for helmets. Since silica glass is elastically brittle material, the regularity of its penetration, such as a ceramic.

After the initial stage of the reaction the striker to a glass plate in front of the penetrating body is formed wave of destruction, creating a network of cracks that ultimately leads to the rear splitting off even when there is no penetration of the impactor for the back surface of the wafer. In view of the above, high windows can only be used in transparent layered targets with the backs protective films, inhibitory fragments.

As backsheet also used polycarbonate. Based on this, one of the most important problems of creating transparent armor are connection issues layers of transparent bronepregrad ensuring strong adhesive bond between them and the preservation of transparency and optical properties. To connect these layers developed various viscous, elastic, transparent communication: polivinilbuteralevye, acrylic, polyurethane and others. Adhesives and tapes, after polymerization, which also functions as a barrier for propagating cracks.

Superior properties in terms of bulletproof glass silicate has vysokotvёrdoe quartz glass (its chemical composition - pure silica) having besides and lower density (2.2 g / cc vs. about 2.5 g / cc at most frequently used silicate glass).

However, it has lower survivability than other silicate glasses, and production in Russia quartz glass plates large size is currently in a state of decline. In this case, the use of imported quartz glass for the purpose of creating a transparent armor is limited as the high cost indicators, and a direct ban on the supply to Russia.

It should be noted that a promising way to increase the survivability of silicate transparent armor is the development of methods for creating fine-mesh on a polymeric binder, glass plates, fully preserving at the same optical properties. The manufacture of such glasses is practiced abroad, for example in Germany. In modern conditions, in addition to the requirements of protection against a variety of means to transparent armor imposed and such performance requirements, such as security of fogging and icing.

For buildings and vehicles, this problem is solved by the creation of elektroobogrevnyh glass with wire heating, electrically conductive sputtering or the same films. In transparent visor helmets for the same purpose using special coating or film. Another important task is to protect bronestёkol, especially their polymeric component, the abrasive effect of the environment (dust, sand, etc.)., Contamination, various chemicals (oil, gasoline, and so on. N.), Causing a decrease in their optical properties.

This problem is also solved by a special surface treatment bronestёkol, the use of special coatings and films. Another way to increase the protective characteristics of transparent armor is the use of technology t. N. "Smart glass" (electrochromic glass), change the opacity by an electric voltage, which allows, for example, during the shelling to make bulletproof glass opaque. In this case, what is behind bulletproof glass, would be, of course, invisible to the enemy.

Also in the film bronestёkol introduced, providing protection against UV, radio and microwave radiation. Currently, the various enterprises in Russia are issued bulletproof transparent barriers based on silica glass

It should be noted that today's traditional transparent protection can be considered practically exhausted the possibilities to minimize its mass. The real way to reduce the weight characteristics of transparent armor high protection classes is to use as the top layer of transparent ceramics: a single-crystal sapphire (aluminum oxide Al2O3) and polycrystalline aluminum oxynitride Al23O27N5 (known as ALON, or Alon in the Russian language version) and alyumomagnezialnoy spinel (Al2O3MgO) .

These materials have a hardness close to diamond on the Mohs scale (8-9), which is very effective in the destruction of bullets with hardened core.

According to the specialists of JSC "Research Institute of Steel" priority for Russia may be the following areas of development and improvement of transparent armor in Russia:

1.Creation the necessary scale of domestic import-substituting production of transparent materials such as polycarbonate, quartz glass, transparent ceramics with the desired characteristics.

2.Development new transparent materials and processing technologies that allow them to improve safety and performance. 3.Development and improvement of technologies and molding compound constituents of transparent armor structures to ensure compliance with their requirements.

Manual control of the machine-building-industrial group, LLC "MCC" Concern "Tractor Plants" believes that it is especially important to turn ideas into high-tech. For this engineering enterprises must take place between science and the real sector of the economy for the implementation of research results.

Therefore, the cooperative chain enterprises "Tractor plants" occupy a special place engineering companies - OJSC "NII steel", JSC "Special Design Bureau of Machine Building", LLC "MIKONT", LLC "Plant of innovative products" KTZ ", which should ensure a high scientific group technical and production and technological capacity, and hence the competitiveness of its products.

Domestic developers willing to create new materials, if the country is needed. This requires targeted support to the Government of the Russian Federation within the framework of the federal target program to create new advanced materials. They are confident that they can develop the best analogues of protection and to address a number of issues on import substitution products for a variety of positions in this direction.