Source：Public Account of China Society for Composite Materials, January 25, 2021

In order to enhance the survival rate of soldiers in future wars, the armies of major powers generally distribute body armor and other protective equipment to the army on a large scale, and the popularity of body armor is increasing. The principle of body armor is also very simple. It is to improve the strength as much as possible while obtaining better wearability and comfort by improving new materials. At present, the mainstream materials of body armor include Kevlar fiber, carbon fiber and high-strength PE fiber. Among the three, high-strength PE fiber is the most promising material. The latest Russian body armor design is based on this material.

According to reports, relevant sources said that the future "hundred man" individual equipment of the Russian army will rely on special materials to achieve record light weight, and its degree of protection will exceed all existing body armor. According to the information released by Russia, the "hundred man" can stop shrapnel flying at a speed of 670 meters per second, has excellent protection, and can offset the impact of the blow, thereby reducing the probability that the soldier will suffer internal organ damage due to the impact. .

The core technology of body armor equipment is the material. The material of the Russian army's "hundred man" series is high-strength PE fiber, that is, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber. Although polyethylene is usually regarded as a synonym for plastic, the gap between ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber and plastic material is very huge. Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber is the toughest fiber in the world, and its strength is 15 times that of steel. Compared with the Kevlar fiber widely used to make body armor, the strength is also 2 times higher, and its protective performance is naturally much better than the general Kevlar fiber body armor. In addition, this material is not only extremely strong, but also unusually light. Its unit density is only 0.97 g/cm3. Since this density is lower than water, the body armor of this material can float on the water when it is thrown into the water.

In addition to the normal manufacturing of body armor, Bekhan Ozdoev, the industrial director of the weapons department of the Russian Technology Group, pointed out the possibility of considering the possibility of adding a power titanium exoskeleton to the composition of the "hundred man". Simply put, it is to use a powered exoskeleton system and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber materials together. On the one hand, the mechanical exoskeleton system can provide strong power support for the soldiers, but the complete protection of the alloy plate may cause the cost and weight to exceed the standard, causing the soldier's flexibility to not increase but decrease. If a mechanical alloy exoskeleton skeleton is used, alloy plates are used for protection of important parts, and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber materials that are lighter and easier to fold are used to cover the rest of the protection, which will obviously achieve better results. In fact, even the addition of 2mm high-performance materials can significantly improve the protective performance without adding too much extra burden to the soldiers. This idea can be said to be a comprehensive consideration of cost, performance and practicality. In the future, the exoskeleton system is likely to adopt a design idea of composite manufacturing of multiple materials.