[Courtesy of Hyundai Rotem]
Military vehicles including light-armored vehicles and armored fighting vehicles are normally clad in plates of armor that protect machinery and personnel from bullets, shells and shrapnel. South Korea with locally-made heavy-armor vehicles such as tanks and armored personnel carriers (APCs) relied on imported armor plate materials to produce heavy-duty protective plates.
The Agency for Defense Development (ADD), a state agency for research and development in defense technology, said in a statement on June 8 that its researchers have developed ultra-high hardness and high hardness materials for armor plates. Through the research project that began in 2015, researchers upgraded the engineering and designing capabilities for the production of alloys, materials and the structure of plates.
"Plates can maintain its form and protective capability even after they were struck by bullets repeatedly," the agency said, adding that the high-performance armor plates were created for the protection of APCs, tanks and self-propelled artillery vehicles and crew.
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