Ceradyne body armour plates, not a single failure

MARC A. KING

In the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, one of the casualties was the anti-terrorist squad chief Hemant Karkare. He was said to be wearing a ‘bullet-proof’ jacket and yet the bullet pierced through. That speaks volumes of the importance of the ‘right’ kind of equipment.

At Defexpo India 2012, US-based Ceradyne Armor Systems claims to have a 100 per cent fail-safe body armour plates. Marc A. King, President of Ceradyne, proudly proclaims “not one of the US Army or Marine Corps wearing a Ceradyne body armour plate has lost his life either in Afghanistan or Iraq. There has never been a failure.”

DRDO TESTING CERADYNE BODY ARMOUR PLATE

Ceradyne has submitted about a fortnight ago the body armor plate to the Defence Research and Development Organisation for testing. “Based on the outcome of the test, we will work out the commercial distribution aspect, including finding the right partner,” said King.

“With Ceradyne body armour plates, the soldier can feel more confident. In the US Army and Marine Corps, 80 per cent of the plates used are that of Ceradyne. The plates go beyond the current technology of what is offered to the soldier,” he said and added that the plate has multiple uses to - it can be used as a shovel, as a seat etc. The plate is made out of boron carbide, hardest material after diamond.

Ceradyne has already supplied over three million plates to the US Army and is looking for new markets. In 2012, it has an order for three lakh plates. Ceradyne has a capacity of 50,000 body armour plates a month with 50 per cent capacity utilisation. The company is looking at new markets.

The company has also put on show combat helmets which have substantial improvements in fragment protection and ‘can stop a rifle bullet’.